Aikens celebrates Hawks Stanley Cup victory!

At Aikens Lake, we have fallen in love with the Blackhawks. Their young star and captain Jonathan Toews has been coming up to Aikens with his father since he was at the University of North Dakota, the year before his rookie season. Jonathan grew up in Winnipeg and even went to school with several of our staff members before moving away to start his hockey career. Because of that connection, we have closely followed the successes of the Hawks over the past three seasons. They also have several other Winnipegers on the team. Not since the Jets left Winnipeg in 1996 have we had the opportunity to cheer for a "hometown" team in the Stanley Cup. Not only does Aikens love the Hawks, but we have two groups from Chicago here at Aikens right now! They felt right at home when they came to watch the game in the main lodge and saw several Blackhawks jerseys scattered throughout the crowd. Since we don't have satellite television (a conscious decision), our only option was to stream the game online and use a projector to show the game on a sheet pinned up to a wall in the main lodge. Most of the staff, along with our Chicago groups all sat on the edge of our seats as the Hawks snapped the longest Stanley Cup drought in the NHL. A roar erupted when we finally figured out that Patrick Kane had snuck one in behind the Flyer netminder in overtime (it was a quirky goal.) The Stanley Cup victory erased what was the longest current cup drought in the NHL. The last time Chicago won the cup was 49 years ago, 1961. The dubious honor for longest streak now belongs to a team that many of our staff and guests also root for - the Toronto Maple Leafs, who last hoisted the cup in 1967. The victory party in Big Molly's was pretty special as well. Chants of the Fratellis "Chelsea Dagger" song were spontaneously sung late into the night (that's the song that the Hawks play after every goal at the United Center.) I am sure that it paled in comparison to what Chicago must have been like last night! Congratulations to the Hawks and particularly to hometown hero Jonathan Toews. You've made Aikens Lake and all of Manitoba very proud! ----------------------------------- Update from last posting re: Scott Arniel Congratulations Scott on being appointed as the new head coach of the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets this Tuesday! We'll miss your yearly trip up here with Zinger and the Manitoba Moose organization, but I'm sure you'll find your way back to Aikens nonetheless!