Lord Stanley Trophy has own float in Chicago Pride Parade (VIDEO)

Just days after the historic Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage, approximately one million people flooded the streets of Chicago in celebration of the annual Pride Parade. And one of the most popular attractions was adorned in silver — namely Lord Stanley's Cup.

The Cup, along with mascot Tommy Hawk and members of the ice crew, was featured on a float sponsored by WGN Radio and looked fine and dandy after the previous night out at a Jimmy Buffet concert.

Back when the Blackhawks won the Cup in 2010, the Cup rode in the parade at the request of the Chicago Gay Hockey Association. Five years and two more Stanley Cups later, the trophy was back.

A big hit in the #Pride2015 parade today. #StanleyCup #BecauseItsTheCup @NHLBlackhawks @HockeyHallFame (Hhofarchives) pic.twitter.com/2OZzxEoQWC

— Philip Pritchard (@keeperofthecup) June 28, 2015

NYC mayor Bill de Blasio sings 'I Love L.A.' after losing Stanley Cup bet (VIDEO)

New York City mayor Bill de Blasio humbly warbled Randy Newman's "I Love L.A." on the late-night talk show "Jimmy Kimmel Live" Monday night — settling a bet with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti after the Rangers lost to the Kings in the NHL finals.

"He lost the bet, and now he's going to pay," Kimmel said before de Blasio's performance.

De Blasio wore an "I love LA" T-shirt for his appearance and sang alongside 10 children from the 52nd Street Project arts program, broadcast live to Kimmel and Garcetti in Los Angeles via satellite from Times Square.

"Jimmy, I always wanted to meet you, but not like this, man," de Blasio said, later joking that he was in a "hostage situation." 

"We in New York honor our bets, but I don't have that great a singing voice."

The mayor and the kids conveniently skipped the verse that criticized New York City as cold and damp.

"Mayor de Blasio, you look like a counselor at the worst camp ever," Kimmel joked.

But real New York fans know De Blasio is a Massachusetts native, who was raised as a fan of the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots.

Henrik Lundqvist literally inconsolable after Rangers loss (PHOTOS)

Henrik Lundqvist just finished playing one of the greatest series as a goaltender in NHL Finals history and, as he lay splayed on the ice after Alec Martinez's goal Friday night, was heartbroken to realize the Kings goalie, Jonathan Quick, was just a couple of overtimes better.

The Kings had finished a 3-2 double-overtime victory over the Rangers, to finish an improbable playoff run and capture their second Stanley Cup Championship in three years, and Lundqvist wanted no part of it — or anyone.

After his 48-save game, Lundqvist sat at his locker stall with his hands covering his face, refusing to be consoled from even his closest teammates.

This picture says it all. Henrik deserved better. RT @svtlehmann: En otröstlig @HLundqvist30 pic.twitter.com/g4Nvuzm2IJ #NYR
— Linda Cohn (@lindacohn) June 14, 2014

When King Henrik finally did speak, it was the words of a man whose team had come so far over the last two months and still thought there was more to go.

“I knew going into this series that it would end in tears,” the Swedish goaltender finally said after pausing to collect his thoughts when asked to put it all in perspective. “Tears of joy or tears of heartbreak.

“Right now it’s extremely tough.”

Lundqvist finally came to grips with the fact that his brilliant play could only carry the Rangers so far.

“To play a game like this, you hope some guy scores the big goal for you,” Lundqvist said. “It was exhausting to play. … It was exciting to be out there, but sooner or later something is going to happen.”

pic.twitter.com/UNYCilTEKm
— Marie Lehmann (@svtlehmann) June 14, 2014

Now he can only imagine what might have been.

Rangers' Derick Brassard blindsides Kings' Dustin Brown (VIDEO)

In Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final Wednesday night, Derick Brassard delivered a check to the body of Los Angeles Kings captain Dustin Brown in the second period. Brown was slammed into the boards and went down immediately.

Brown lay on the ice for a few moments and was tended to by a Kings trainer. He skated to the Kings' bench, but didn't go to the locker room.

Brassard was called for a two-minute boarding minor. The Rangers killed off the penalty and the score remained tied at 2. Brown returned to the game a few minutes later.

Brassard should know how a hard check feels. He missed a couple games of the Eastern Conference Final after a hard check by Montreal Canadiens' Mike Weaver.

The NHL Department of Player Safety takes a look at all these hits, but could this one cost the Rangers another player due to suspension?

Steen scores game-winner to lift Blues over Blackhawks in triple overtime (VIDEO)

It took the St. Louis Blues five overtime periods, and then some, to take advantage of the defending Stanley Cup champions.

Alexander Steen scored at 26 seconds of the third overtime to cap the longest playoff game in franchise history and give the Blues a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series on Thursday night.

Steen beat Corey Crawford off a pair of short passes from Steve Ott and David Backes to end the exhausting opening game. 

Blues coach Ken Hitchcock greeted reporters for the postgame news conference with a humorous "Good morning" early Friday after the marathon match.

"It's big. We want to start this series off on a good note," Steen said. "Especially at home in front of our fans."

Both teams will certainly enjoy a day of rest before meeting in Game 2 Saturday afternoon.

Coach's house gets toilet papered after Blackhawks' Stanley Cup win

After the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup back in 2010, fans responded by toilet papering head coach Joel Quenneville's house in celebration. After all, it was the team's first title in 49 years.

Monday night, after the Blackhawks' stunning victory over the Boston Bruins to win the Lord Stanley again, Chicago supporters showed their appreciation once again by TP'ing the coach's home.

That’s a photo of Quenneville’s house via Paul Pabst, the producer for “The Dan Patrick Show.”

Ellie, a Blackhawks fan, tweeted that her friend is a neighbor of Quenneville’s and helped drape his house in Charmin while proudly posting photos of her own TP hanging skills.

Vandalism like this usually calls for a hosing down by the homeowner but Coach Q even came out and signed autographs for his giddy neighbors.

Coach Q signing autographs for the neighbors. pic.twitter.com/JXgrVr8Xru
— Paul Pabst (@PaulPabst) June 25, 2013

LA Kings' Jonathan Quick beats censors on live TV

One way to rile up a crowd during a typical boilerplate speech is throw in a four-letter word to spice things up.  Los Angeles Kings goalie Jonathan Quick did just that not once but three times with his profane praise of his teammates during a rally celebrating the team's Stanley Cup Championship on Thursday at the packed Staples Center.

During a live broadcast on KCAL 9, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner cracked up the thousands of fans— waving towels and giving standing ovations to every player— by mixing in the F-bombs with all the pomp surrounding the ceremony.

Even the anchorwoman acknowledged the censor wasn't fast enough on the button to bleep Quick all three times and apologized.

This year's Stanley Cup Trophy is getting the Hollywood treatment.  Before riding with the team on double-decker buses and flatbed trucks through Los Angeles' city center parade route, the large silver trophy has appeared on "The Tonight Show" and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and on Wednesday it posed with the Kings at Dodger Stadium for a photo-op with the Dodgers and Angels after each Kings player threw out a first pitch.

And who can forget that adorable video of one player's kids dressed as Spiderman drinking chocolate milk from it?  Well, now comes the hardcore.

SEE FULL VIDEO (contains profanity)

LA Kings appear on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' and let host drink from Stanley Cup

A night after winning the first Lord Stanley Cup in the 45-year history of the club, the Los Angeles Kings appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and let the host drink some beer from the esteemed trophy.

The subdued (hungover?) squad appeared— wearing Kings' jerseys— on the show Tuesday night and, after Kevin Westgarth prompted Kimmel to take a swig of beer from the huge chalice, the host asked, "You guys didn't pee in this thing?"

After defenseman Willie Mitchell poured the brew down Kimmel's throat and even more over his suit, Kimmel proclaimed, "It tastes like victory."



Kimmel— a real hockey fan— goofed around with the team and mentioned that all the players will get their name engraved into the Cup before asking if the New Jersey Devils' player Steve Bernier would get his name etched on the trophy too.    Bernier was criticized for his five-minute major for boarding  Rob Scuderi and allowing the Kings to jump out to a three-goal lead the Devils couldn't overcome.

The eighth-seeded Kings won their first championship by crushing the Devils 6-1 Monday night to take the championship series four games to two.

Now each player from the winning team will get to keep the trophy for one day and eat or drink whatever they want from its bowl for 24 hours.

I'm betting on a lot of Molson and kid's cereals.

Tortorella and DeBoer go at it during Devils-Rangers Game 4

Tempers flared— both on the ice and between the benches— after Mike Rupp of the New York Rangers shoved New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur after getting called for a penalty during the third period of last night's matchup at the Prudential Center.

After Rupp was told to leave the ice, players from both teams got into a scrum in front of the Devils' net and the head coaches from both teams got into a verbal screaming match from their respective benches.

John Tortorella and Peter DeBoer looked like they were using a lot of colorful language to accuse each other's team of using dirty play.

Would you expect anything less than this at a Devils-Rangers Stanley Cup playoff game?



Rupp— a former teammate of Brodeur— received 14 penalty minutes last night— including the 10-minute misconduct that set off the fisticuffs and finger-pointing.

New Jersey won the game 4-1 and the Eastern Conference Finals is now tied at 2-2.  The game moves back to Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night and it probably won't be pretty.

The good news?  At least Torts is talking to someone.

Restaurant owner to Flyers: 'No ribs for you'

If the Philadelphia Flyers want to win in Pittsburgh on Saturday— and in the first round of their probable first round Stanley Cup playoff series— they will have to do it without their good luck charm— buckets of ribs from their favorite BBQ joint.

Peter Laviolette said the reason for the Flyers' recent success against the Penguins in Pittsburgh is because DeeJay's, a popular restaurant in nearby Weirton, W. Va., has been supplying the Flyers team with its favorite postgame meal.

The Flyers head coach claims that— since the restaurant has been delivering the food to the Flyers' charter plane— the visitors are 5-0-0 at the Consol Energy Center since its opening on Oct. 7, 2010.

When the owner of DeeJay's, Dewey Guida, started getting heat from Penguins fans for helping the cross-state rivals, he vowed not to serve the good luck take-out to the Flyers team anymore.

"No more ribs for them," said Guida.  ""And I pray, I hope, that the Penguins beat their skates off."

Guida, whose grill has hosted famous athletes, coaches and even presidents in its 24 years of business, is a die-hard Penguins fan, and said he's known Laviolette from his coaching days with the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL in 1997-98.

"It started out so innocent," said Guida.  "Peter Laviolette and I have been friends for years.  We became friends, and we've kept the relationship up over the years, as I have with other coaches, like Scotty Bowman and Eddie Johnston."

Nothing comes between a friendship like a Stanley Cup playoff series spot— especially between two teams whose last minute brawl on Sunday cost already cost Laviolette a $10,000 fine.

"Those ribs seem to do the trick," Laviolette told reporters after Sunday's 6-4 win in Pittsburgh.  "Whenever the ribs are ordered, we win.  I want to thank DeeJay's."

This quote set off a firestorm of protests against the rib joint from Pens fans.  The controversy has Guida doing a lot of public relations— via radio, television and print interviews— to show Pittsburgh he won't support the enemy.

Looks like the Flyers will have to brown bag some cheesesteak sandwiches in the future.

Andrew Ference Proves The NHL Is For Goons and Geeks

Staying true to his word, Boston Bruins player Andrew Ference went "one up" on his teammates when it came to his day with the Stanley Cup.  That's if if you consider bringing the trophy into a group of people who gather for a pointless act, then disperse one upping.

 That's right, Lord Stanley has been flash mobbed for the first time and, hopefully, it will be the last time it participates in a "spontaneous" outbreak of dance.

In front of speakers blaring the strains of Queen's "We Are the Champions," the defenseman walked into a flash mob crowd in the North End of Boston carrying the Lord Stanley over his head.  Hundreds of hipsters and computer geeks filled the Hanover Street block and swarmed the happy hockey player.

The poor Cup, which gets to spend a day with each player on the winning team, has already been dropped,  filled with milk and breakfast cereal and who knows how many people sloppily slurped beer from its mouth so far this year.   But its most undignified moment must be this-- being the center of a geek-filled flash mob-- doing it for the dance.

Ference celebrated the Bruins 2011 Championship by parading through the hometown streets and later visited a local hospital with the trophy.

I can't wait for the player who "planks" the trophy for the first time.

Jurors in Casey Anthony Trial Will See Recording of Lightning-Bruins Playoff Game

The jurors in the Casey Anthony murder trial found out this morning they will be allowed to watch a recorded tape of tonight's Game 7 Stanley Cup Playoff match-up between their home team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Boston Bruins.  The 12 jurors and five alternates broke out in applause when Judge Belvin Perry announced his decision regarding the big game.

The sequestered Clearwater, Florida jury, selected from the Tampa Bay area, was transported to Orlando after Judge Perry made arrangements for Friday's 8 p.m. EST game to be recorded and shown later to the jurors of the highly-publicized case.

This is the first Game 7 in the Eastern Conference finals in five years and will be played at the TD Garden in Boston.

Anthony was charged with 1st degree murder after her 2 year-old daughter was found dead in 2008.  The polarizing trial has received a lot of national media attention.

The winner of tonight's Lightning-Bruins game will face the Vancouver Canucks in the Stanley Cup Finals.  The Canucks defeated the San Jose Sharks in five games.

The murder trial began Tuesday with opening statements after 11 days of jury selection.  The trial is expected to last about two months.

The finals series begin Wed. June 1 in Vancouver and a game seven would be played there on June 15.

Which means, if the Lightning win tonight, the jurors will probably continue seeing delayed tapes of the Lightning games throughout the Finals.