WINONA, Minn. — Patrick Kane's game-winning, Stanley Cup-clinching goal didn't happen the way Chicago Blackhawks president and Saint Mary's University graduate John McDonough '75 had envisioned it happening.
The goal light didn't go on.
The referee didn't immediately signal a goal.
The team didn't clear the bench and immediately pile on Kane.
In fact, when he scored, nobody even knew he did, except for maybe Kane himself.
Regardless of how it happened, McDonough enjoyed every minute of the ride it took to get there.
“When it happened, all we saw was Patrick Kane skating to the other end of ice, disrobing — throwing his stick and gloves into the air, and you got the feeling he knew something we didn't,” said McDonough, who was in Winona Thursday, receiving the Saint Mary's University Presidential Award for Outstanding Merit, while also serving as the keynote speaker for SMU's fall convocation ceremony. “And five seconds later, when we saw the replay, we realized we had won the Stanley Cup.
“You don't envision it happening that way, it didn't clearly go in — it was more of a phantom goal.”
Perhaps what was even more emotional for McDonough was that that game-winning goal — which put an end to a 49-year Stanley Cup drought, earning the Blackhawks their first title since 1961 — was the culmination and final stamp on what was an unforgettable run.
“That was the greatest moment of my professional life; on the ice in Philadelphia, it was surreal,” McDonough said of hoisting the Stanley Cup. “It still hasn't sunk in yet — maybe when we have the banner raising and ring ceremonies it will. It was historic, memorable, life-changing, epic; everything you think it would be.”
It also helped solidify his decision to move across town, leaving his position as president of the Chicago Cubs for the same post with the Blackhawks.
“It was the most difficult professional decision I have ever had to make, but it was an opportunity to reinvent myself,” McDonough said of the move to the Blackhawks. “(The Blackhawks) were an Original Six team that hadn't won a championship in 49 years. Attendance was low, and the opportunity to improve the franchise was a great career opportunity.”
It was an opportunity that McDonough quickly capitalized on, promptly changing the culture and reenergizing the organization and fan base — and becoming the chief architect of what Forbes Magazine called “The Greatest Sports-Business Turnaround Ever."
A turnaround that was sealed with Kane's Cup-clinching overtime goal.
"We had a very good season and winning the Cup is great for the city of Chicago and it's great for the NHL,” McDonough said. “But once the Cup hysteria dies down, it's back to business.“Our focus is already on next year.”
