The Blackhawks last night won the Stanley Cup for the third time in six years, clinching the title at home for the first time in 77 years before a sellout crowd of 22,424 "delirious fans" at United Center (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 6/16). NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman was booed as he walked on the ice to present the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP to Blackhawks D Duncan Keith, but was cheered loudly when he told the crowd, “Well Chicago, that’s three Cups in six seasons. I’d say you have a dynasty, and you great fans deserve it” (NBC, 6/15). Clark Street in Wrigleyville "erupted as time expired" in Game 6 and "thousands of fans clad in Blackhawks gear flooded out of bars" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 6/16). About 150 people "showed up outside Coach Joel Quenneville's Hinsdale home" to celebrate (CHICAGOTRIBUNE.com, 6/15). A championship parade "will take place on Thursday" (SUNTIMES.com, 6/15).

Chicago Tribune, A1, “Hat Trick” … Chicago Tribune’s RedEye, A1, “Puck Dynasty” ... Chicago Sun-Times, A1, "Thrice Age" ... Tampa Bay Times, A1 above the fold, “Lights Out” …. USA Today, A1 top rail, “Chicago Claims Stanley Cup” ... N.Y. Times, A1, bottom left, "Chicago Wins The Stanley Cup"

The Stanley Cup itself "arrived fashionably late" to the arena, "delayed by the untimely detours that were a result of severe weather before the game." The Cup was "given a police escort." A source said that the trip "reached speeds of 100 mph." Cup keeper Phil Pritchard said, "Mother Nature was not a hockey fan tonight" (ESPN.com, 6/16). The Blackhawks "had to wait a little longer than normal" before Bettman could award the Cup to team captain Jonathan Toews (CBSSPORTS.com, 6/15).

The Sports Authority store on North LaSalle Street was slated to stay open until 1:00am CT last night and open at 6:00am today. Area Dick's Sporting Goods locations had a "similar plan," re-opening after the usual 9:30pm closing and "staying open until demand dies down." The stores were to open at 7:00am "instead of the usual" 9:00am. DSG spokesperson Brian Dibbert: "We want to react to demand" (CHICAGOTRIBUNE.com, 6/15).

Golden 1, one of the nation’s largest credit unions, has acquired naming rights for the $477M downtown NBA Kings arena, scheduled to open in October '16. An announcement on what will be called Golden 1 Center is scheduled for today adjacent to the construction site in downtown in Sacramento. Sources pegged the deal at $120M over 20 years, with an average annual value at $6M, making it one of the largest naming-rights deals for a single-tenant NBA arena.

Sacramento-based Golden 1 is the latest company to support a hometown naming-rights platform. It is the largest credit union in California and the sixth-largest in the U.S., with $9B in assets. It boasts 720,000 members in California, largely employees of the state government. Rights obtained by Golden 1 under the contract are not broadly exclusive across financial services, so the Kings, which handled the deal in-house, can cut more deals within that category. Golden 1 Center is believed to be the first major-league sports facility with a credit union as naming-rights sponsor. However, there are more than 10 college and minor-league facilities with credit unions in their nameplates, including State Employees Credit Union Arena at Towson Univ., SEFCU Arena at the Univ. at Albany and UCCU Center at Utah Valley Univ.

The Glendale City Council today is scheduled to meet "in a closed-door session" to "consult with the city attorney and consider its position on agreements" for Gila River Arena and with the Coyotes. Council member Gary Sherwood said that the body "could either proceed with sending a letter to the Coyotes to terminate its agreement or back off of its decision, perhaps saying it got bad legal advice or had learned new information." This comes as four members who last week voted to rescind the $225M arena lease deal are being "targeted for recall" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 6/16).

The U.S. faces Nigeria tonight in a FIFA Women's World Cup Group Stage match at BC Place, and "thousands of USA supporters have landed in Vancouver in recent days, with more expected to drive north for the day." Rita Rogers, Vancouver venue manager for the WWC, said that more than 51,000 tickets for the game "had been sold by Monday afternoon." The Vancouver FIFA Fan Zone has "reserved a section for at least 1,000 American Outlaws for pre-game festivities" (Vancouver PROVINCE, 6/16).

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon’s stadium task force released an updated video of a proposed Rams stadium in which narrator Joe Buck calls St. Louis "by every measure, a great football city." Buck, who notes he is from St. Louis, continues, "This is our opportunity: a destination will provide lasting and meaningful jobs, stimulate business and serve the best sports fans in the nation for generations to come. With your voice and your support, we will make our stand with a new downtown NFL stadium." The new video includes the latest renderings (HOK).

The Players’ Tribune has closed on $9.5M in a Series B round of financing led by New Enterprise Associates. In conjunction with the financing, New Enterprise Associates General Partner Jon Sakoda will join The Players’ Tribune BOD (The Players’ Tribune). The cash raised will help the digital media company “take its first-person stories beyond print and deeper into radio and video” (N.Y. POST, 6/16).

An NFL contingent led by Patriots Owner Robert Kraft that includes Pro Football HOF President David Baker today is scheduled to "leave for Israel." Kraft is "paying for the trip, including travel and accommodations" for 19 HOFers and their guests. During the weeklong trip, the group "will attend a scrimmage of the Israeli national team, which is preparing for its first international competition, and host an event at the Kraft Family Stadium." HOFers also will "have the chance to visit religious landmarks and meet with Israeli government officials" (MMQB.SI.com, 6/15).

Women In Sports & Events (WISE) today is hosting its annual WISE Women of the Year Awards Luncheon at the Marriott Marquis in N.Y., with the WISE/R Symposium set for tomorrow. Experts leading the Symposium include NFL Senior VP/Sponsorship & Partnership Management Renie Anderson, USOC CMO Lisa Baird, NBA VP/Team Marketing & Business Operations Kirsten Corio, MLB Senior VP/Diversity & Strategic Alliances Wendy Lewis, IMG Media Senior VP/Programming & Distribution Hillary Mandel and Virgin Sport Global CEO Mary Wittenberg (WISE).

New York has granted “a two-week extension” for the public comment period on NYRA’s “sweeping plan to redevelop Saratoga Race Course.” Groups now have until June 29 to comment on the project’s environmental review (Albany TIMES UNION, 6/16).

NASCAR Xfinity Series team Viva Motorsports announced that it was ceasing operations, effective this week. The team began racing in NASCAR in ’09 (Viva Motorsports).

The West Coast Conference announced a multiyear digital partnership with Silver Chalice’s SportsLabs to build a new website for the conference featuring live streaming (WCC).

A crowd of 45,420 attended yesterday's Netherlands-Canada Women's World Cup match at Olympic Stadium (MONTREAL GAZETTE, 6/16).

Yankees fans were “a sizable force” among the crowd of 33,961 at last night’s game against the Marlins in Miami. The crowd was the Marlins’ “largest since Opening Day” (South Florida SUN-SENTINEL, 6/16).

“The feeling among the membership was that Almaty probably narrowed the gap. I think it might be a close vote, which I didn’t think originally” – Australian IOC member John Coates, on the Kazakhstan city and Beijing vying to host the ’22 Games (BOSTON GLOBE, 6/15).

“He’s one of the best models I’ve ever worked with” – Vogue Fashion Dir Tonne Goodman, on American Pharoah, who will appear in the August issue of the magazine (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 6/15).

“Mr. Kraft definitely went beyond all measures for this ring” – Patriots S Devin McCourty, praising team Owner Robert Kraft for sparing no expense when it came to the Super Bowl XLIX rings (ESPN.com, 6/15).

“I think down the road I would look for Google and Apple TV and others to potentially want to use sports to begin a franchise” – AAC Commissioner Mike Aresco (FLORIDA TODAY, 6/16).

Last night’s 1:00am ET editions of ESPN’s “SportsCenter” and FS1’s “Fox Sports Live” led with the decisive Blackhawks-Lightning Stanley Cup Final Game 6. ESPN followed with Blue Jays-Mets and Yankees-Marlins. FS1 followed with Red-Tigers and Blue Jays-Mets.

ESPN’s “Olbermann” did not air last night.

Under the header, "Seattle Can Learn From NHL Arena Fiasco In Glendale," the SEATTLE TIMES argues the Coyotes' issues show the "importance of getting the finer details right on any arena so taxpayer risk in minimized."

Amid a gender discrimination investigation around Univ. of Minnesota sports, the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE goes with the sub-header, "Minnesota isn't specifically discriminating against female athletes. The school is discriminating against unprofitable sports." 

The CINCINNATI ENQUIRER notes the mustache is the "dominant marketing symbol" of the '15 MLB All-Star Game. However, "no Reds had a mustache" in '88 for the last ASG in Cincinnati, as the club "didn't allow its players any type of facial hair from 1966 to 1999."

Also:

• U.S. Soccer's Sunil Gulati pilloried for "enabling" G Hope Solo.
• Pinehurst already has its sight set on next chance to host U.S. Open.
• Is it time to consider adding more netting to protect baseball fans?
• Bucks' mixed-use development plans generate excitement, criticism.
• If Triple-A Red Sox do not land in Providence, where could they go?

Ron Hextall hasn't talked to Kimmo Timonen about a front office job yet ... but says he will, and will see what direction things go.

— Sarah Baicker (@sbaickerTCN) June 16, 2015

Brilliantly, Fifa accuses the Nobel Peace Centre of "not embodying the spirit of fair play" in ending its Handshake for Peace involvement.

— Owen Gibson (@owen_g) June 16, 2015

Think gender gap in sports reporting may be closing at last. Have just read a piece about a male tennis player's socks

— Paul Kelso (@pkelso) June 16, 2015

If I was given the chance to tase one person, I'd pick someone who calls off air and tells me to talk about the Bills more

— Matthew Coller (@MatthewWGR) June 16, 2015

Evansville, Ind., will formally rename a street after Pro Football HOFer Bob Griese. The street, which is near Griese's old high school stadium, will be called Bob Griese Pass. A monument in Griese’s honor will also be unveiled.

Last night’s “Final Jeopardy!” category was “19th Century Poetry.”

“He rhymed the title character of one of his best-known poems with ‘drew on,’ ‘threw on’ and ‘ruin.’”

NBC’s Jimmy Fallon said, “Last night the Warriors pulled away from the Cavs late in the game, thanks to a bunch of three-pointers from Steph Curry. This guy is amazing. These weren’t just normal shots. These were like, very high degrees of difficulty, these shots. It’s almost like he was playing a video game when I was watching. But if you look closely, I think he was. Take a look at this.” The broadcast then aired footage from Sunday night’s Warriors-Cavaliers game of Curry’s shooting highlights. As he hit the shots, the graphics featured the basketball in flight with flames emanating from it, and commentary from EA Sports’ “NBA Jam” was played. The “game” commentary ended with, “He’s literally on fire!” (“The Tonight Show,” NBC, 6/15).

“Who was Lord Byron?”

Lord Byron’s poem was “Don Juan” published in 1819.