I've seen the the replay 10 times and it still feels sort like you stole cookies from the jar and didn't get caught. No one said, "Hey, no dessert." In this odd ending to a helter-skelter Cup Finals, nobody said "No goal, Patrick" and the Hawks survived Philly's onslaught to steal the game on Kane's great shot, and thus win the Stanley Cup.
The Flyers had the momemtum going to OT, tying the game with just under 4 minutes left on a Scott Hartnell goal in a scrum near the Hawks net. The fans went wild. The energy was back in the building and it seemed the Hawks were lucky to get to an OT. Then the OT started and Niemi came up with some great saves to keep the Hawks in the game.
But Chicago, who seized the early action and looked like the better team in this all important game 6. It was a home team win series until game 6 when something had to give. The Hawks took a 3-2 lead into the clincher and although gave their hungry fans fits and grief, their talented winger stepped up to make the huge shot.
It seemed like a phantom goal. No light went on. Nobody made an annoucement. All one saw was Kane skating down the ice in jubilation, throwing off his gloves, and helmet. Players pounded him near his own net...then, as a stunned crowd sat in silence, the Hawks learned the goal was a good one. And the expectant joy turned into a euphoria.
The Hawks had done it. Won a game they had to win, not to force a game 7 in their building. They had been there before in 1971 and lost to the Canadiens at the old Chicago Stadium. They weren't going to let the Series go to a game 7. And Kane, who faked like a wide-receiver with the ball, zoomed 20 feet and let off a shot to the net that eluded goalie Michael Leighton. It crossed the goal line in the blink of an eye. No one saw it except Kane. Game over, and Hawks win a championship.
Being a long-time Chicago sports fan, I would have liked to see a goal where the red light goes on, Flyers bend their heads in disappointment, and the Chicago players mob the goal winner. And, the TV announcer say, "Chicago scores!"
That didn't happen in this bizarre ending of a game. But, I'll take it. The Chicago team is usually on the losing end of such a game, but this time, the Hawks won it. They won it, because they were the better team, Even though they got outplayed at a critical juncture in the late stages of the game. They won it, because a gifted player took a shot, that went in the net. It could have hit the side of the net, The shot could have have a hit player or skate and bounced away from the net. But this time, the puck went into the net and crossed the goalie line. That was the shot the Hawks and the city of Chicago was waiting for-- generations of fans, of sons, fathers, brothers and sisters and aunts. Kane scored for them too.
