Blackhawks latest championship season book a gift-giving ‘Goal’

SHARE Blackhawks latest championship season book a gift-giving ‘Goal’

Okay, so you survived Black Friday mall frenzy and Cyber Monday site freezes. And you still haven’t finished your holiday shopping.

One item for all those Blackhawks fans on your list should be the latest tome from the NHL Stanley Cup champions’ home office: “One Goal III: The Inside Story of the 2015 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks” (240 pages, Blackhawks Publishing).

“Back in 2010, when we won the first Cup of these three, we got a lot of publishers coming to us saying we want to publish a championship season book. We had conversations subsequent to all those offers and thought who would tell our story better than us?,” said Adam, Kempenaar, Blackhawks senior director of New Media/Creative Services. “I’d never published a book before at that point, but said let’s give it a shot. And here we are now on the third one.”

The weighty coffee table-style book, filled with stunning photography of everything from games and locker rooms to players’ hometowns and Chicago’s ticker tape celebrations, is a beauty, to be sure. Selecting the photos that made the final cut was a season-long, painstaking process.

Duncan Keith raises the Stanley Cup in front of a capacity crowd at Soldier Field. | PHOTO COPYRIGHT BLACKHAWKS PUBLISHING

Duncan Keith raises the Stanley Cup in front of a capacity crowd at Soldier Field. | PHOTO COPYRIGHT BLACKHAWKS PUBLISHING

“Having the benefit of the previous two books, we know that going through the photos — and we’re talking tens of thousands of them for one season — has to be organized,” Kempenaar said. “We decided early on to just be very good about tagging photos we liked as the season went on. Paying attention to the things we really liked. … From the first play-off game, same as with the movie [‘Hat Trick’, released in November as well], we were shooting photos and videos and cataloging all the photos. … We sit down as a group, me and my team, and come up with the really iconic moments, the defining moments of the season. And then you have to find that moment captured [in photos] and have it written about in detail.”

Those details are provided by Blackhawks team historian and longtime Chicago sportswriter Bob Verdi, Blackhawks radio and TV broadcasters, Blackhawks Ambassador Denis Savard, organization staff and management. One essay delves into the “keepers of the Cup,” those “globetrotting guardians” in dark suits and white-gloved hands that accompany the Stanley Cup to all of its public appearances across the globe.

“After three Cups, they’re like family now,” Kempenaar said with a chuckle.

Raising the 2015 Stanley Cup Championship Banner at the United Center. | COPYRIGHT BLACKHAWKS PUBLISHING

Raising the 2015 Stanley Cup Championship Banner at the United Center. | COPYRIGHT BLACKHAWKS PUBLISHING

Like its two predecessors, “One Goal Achieved: The Inside Story of the 2010 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks” and “One Goal II: The Inside Story of the 2013 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks,” this third volume is filled with “surprises.” This time out, the goodies include a replica Stanley Cup Final ticket; a championship belt magnet; in-motion player cards, a collage poster, a replica 2015 championship banner and a DVD with featurettes such as “Cup Days” detailing the silver cup’s travels with various players on their hometown visits; and “Coach Q-isms,” a closer look at a few of Coach Joel Quenneville’s most beloved quips, such as “Peanut Butter” (and the story behind them).

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“My favorite photo in the book accompany’s Verdi’s essay on ‘The Conductor,’ about Coach Q, with him in the middle of the locker room, arms flailing [in a shower of] champagne,” Kempenaar said. “It’s the ultimate moment of elation of capturing the Stanley Cup,”  Kempanaar said.

NOTE:Each book also comes with a sweepstakes entry code for the chance to win various Blackhawks prizes (such as autographed pucks, autographed jerseys), or a trip to the Hawks-Maple Leafs game in Toronto on Jan. 15, 2016, complete with a private photo session with the Stanley Cup at the Hockey Hall of Fame during your stay.

“One Goal III: The Inside Story of the 2015 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks” can be purchased at blackhawks.nhl.com and at participating Jewel-Osco stores.

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