Congratulations to the Chicago Blackhawks, who wake up this afternoon as Stanley Cup Champions on the strength of Pat Kane’s series-winning goal in overtime. Watching the Blackhawks hoist the Cup for the first time in 49 years brought tears to the eyes of Jeremy Roenick, which was weird and fascinating.

Hell I was pretty goosebumpy myself, truth be told. Right as Kane got the puck, I got this premonitory Spidey-sense kinda feeling, so I jumped up and got real close to the TV and yelled THIS IS IT RIGHT HERE and then BAM, #88 blew past Timonen and fired a bad angle shot past Leighton to silence the sea of orange. I got pretty loud at that point and woke up my wife. I wasn’t excited because Chicago won, although I like seeing this dynamic young Hawks team take the crown, or because I had a weird moment of hockey ESP right before the goal. Nope, I was most excited because it was Patrick Kane, the pride of Buffalo, winning the Cup in overtime. Playing street hockey growing up in Buffalo, we all dreamed of scoring that goal, but Kane did it for real.

Kane’s from South Buffalo, born and raised, so like any good Buffalonian the first thing the kid did in his NBC and CBC victory interviews was holler at his hometown:

Fuck yeah. I read an interview recently where Kane was recalling the ill-fated 1999 Stanley Cup Finals between Buffalo and Dallas. He had gone to Games 3 & 4 in Buffalo, of course, but had to be on the road for a tournament with his travel team for Game 6. Tired as hell, he fell asleep before Brett Hull “scored” on Hasek to “win” the Cup and break Buffalo’s heart again. Kane remembered being woken up by his teammates chanting “DALLAS, DALLAS” outside his door to fuck with him. Since then, he’s been picked first in the draft, won the Calder, and snagged a silver medal. Now he’s won a Cup, which will spend a raucous day in South Buffalo sometime this summer overflowing with Genny Cream and Labbatt Blue. “Behave yourself,” said Pierre McGuire to Kane at the end of their interview, during which Kane both used the phrase “holy crap” and spat. “Not a chance, not a chance!” replied Kane, skating away. Good for you, kid! Wish you’d been wearing blue & gold, but hey. Crook thinks Kane’s gonna be a punk from here on out, but I think 88′s gonna be all right.

More champagne-soaked shots and a report from the Jagerbomb-fueled celebration after the jump. World Cup preview coming later today.

Patrick Sharp celebrates.

Kane and Conn Smythe winner J.Toews get soaked.

Dustin Byfuglien beasts out.

Kane gets sprayed.

Toews & his team landed at O’Hare at 4 AM and got after it til 9 AM, according to the Tribune:

The Blackhawks embarked on pre-dawn pub crawl after returning from Philadelphia with a beer-soaked Stanley Cup.

From a private terminal at O’Hare International Airport, the team moved on first to Harry Caray’s restaurant in Rosemont, with some teammates then going to The Pony Inn, 1638 W. Belmont Ave. in the city.

They were still enjoying themselves at 7 a.m., with a large crowds outside and bouncers protecting their privacy. Hundreds of screaming fans swarmed the players’ waiting limos as they waited for a glimpse of the city’s newest champions.

At the backdoor, several kids asked for a peek at the Stanley Cup. When Captain Jonathan Toews heard about it, he went out back to let them see it.

Meanwhile, those inside the bar said his teammates downed Jaegerbombs, the ubiquitous celebratory drink consisting of a Jaegermeister shot dropped into a glass of Red Bull. The players also downed caffeine-heavy sodas to help keep themselves awake.

By 9 a.m. the Pony party had broken up. Defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson, who was the last to leave the inn, could not find a taxi on Belmont so he climbed into a Chicago Police car and was spirited away.

- Caps