Blackhawks fans geared up, ready for battle

Jack Howard hopes the Blackhawks have smooth sailing in the Stanley Cup Finals against Tampa Bay. | Mitch Dudek/Sun-Times

If Blackhawks fans wearing their team sweaters to work on Wednesday gathered, they could form a small army.

Several could grab Blackhawks flags flying from storefronts and homes across the city to serve as bannermen.

Too Game of Thrones?

Perhaps.

But judging from the playoffs thus far, the Hawks may be in for another epic battle.

Wearing Blackhawks gear guaranteed an endless series of head nods and high fives.

Jack Howard, 68, sported a Patrick Kane sweater at the helm of his sailboat as he headed east on the Chicago River toward Lake Michigan Wednesday afternoon.

“People keep yelling at me, they love me, especially the bridge tenders,” said Howard, who recently returned to Chicago from Punta Gorda, Fla., where he gets around in a red Jeep with a Blackhawks emblem painted on it.

The Jeep doesn’t upset Lightning fans. “There aren’t any,” he joked.

Alexis Timmons, a software engineer from Kenosha, wore her Daniel Carcillo sweater Wednesday in the Loop.

“It’s awesome. I’m getting a lot of high fives, car horns, everything!” she said.

Alexis Timmens was showing her team pride on Wednesday. | Mitch Dudek/Sun-Times

Jim Benjamin, 25, could barely contain his excitement. He planned to watch the game at Moe’s Cantina on Kinzie Street in the River North neighborhood.

“You see people in the red, and you know it’s game time.”

Jim Benjamin said when you see so many Blackhawks fans in red, “you know it’s game time.” | Mitch Dudek/Sun-Times