Meet Pawel Prylinski, La Grange Park Resident, Massage Therapist to the Blackhawks

When Jim Discipio, village president of La Grange Park, heard what Pawel Prylinski had to say last week he was a bit in shock.

"I have the Stanley Cup on Friday and was wondering if the village would like to do something special," Prylinski said to Discipio, who was excited, to say the least.

Prylinski, a La Grange Park resident currently in his 17th year as massage therapist to the Blackhawks, was in possession of The Cup for one day, per the Hall of Fame tradition: The champions, in this case the Chicago Blackhawks, have 100 days, during which each player gets one day with The Cup, as do all the coaches, hockey operations folks and top level executives; then, it's returned to the Hall of Fame.

The championship trophy, which weighs just over 34 pounds, visited the Eiffel tower for the first time ever with Cristobal Huet, and has traveled to Canada, France, Sweden, Slovakia, and Finland already this summer.

But on Sept. 10, it came to La Grange Park. A longtime La Grange Park resident myself, I chatted with Prylinski during the photo opportunity at village hall that day.

A native of Kalisz, Poland, Prylinski earned his masters degree at the Academy of Physical Education in Poznan, Poland, majoring in education while minoring in coaching and therapeutic massage. He moved to Chicago in 1981 and earned his professional certification at the Chicago School of Massage Therapy.

He joined the Blackhawks in 1991 and became only the fourth such therapist on an NHL Club. Prior to joining the Blackhawks, he was a massage therapist at a Chicago health club and also had a successful private practice.

He travels with the team and during the season, he works seven days a week.

"It is fun, especially when the team is winning," he said.

He remembers that not too long ago, there were only 10-12,000 people at a game—that has changed now with the Hawks being the hottest ticket in town. He said the Hawks have done a great job in reaching out to the community and especially to the youth hockey leagues.

The reach of the Blackhawks was evident in La Grange Park as, even with a short three-day's notice, the word spread quickly and people started lining up outside village hall, 447 N. Catherine Ave.,  at 11:00 a.m. for a scheduled 4:00 p.m. appearance. By 3:30 p.m., the line of people wound around to Ashland Avenue and went on for a couple blocks. It is estimated that more than 600 people came out on that beautiful September afternoon to view The Cup.

After getting stuck in traffic, the entourage bearing the Stanley Cup and Prylinski arrived via white limo at about 5:10 p.m. Prylinski proudly carried in the trophy, flanked with the Hall of Fame bodyguard and various La Grange Park police officers.

Corinne Rogoz, wearing an authentic Hawks jersey and grinning from ear to ear, was the first to go in and see The Cup. She was accompanied by her family, who told me that she was a die-hard Hawks fan. While in line, Rogoz was joking with young kids, telling them, "You may see this again—I won't."

Prylinski proudly showed me a multitude of photos from the final game, the celebration, the parade and the banners that each staff member has with his or her name on it.

"It is surreal, still," he said.

He talked about that infamous last goal that only Patrick Kane knew went in.

"I was on the sidelines working the sticks and suddenly, I see Patrick Kane whooping it up and I go out on the ice, skate back—we could not see it either till they showed the above-the-net shot."

As for the display of the Stanley Cup, he said, "I didn't know what to expect—I had never done this before. I am really glad I did it."

As I was watching Corinne Rogoz walk up and look at the cup in awe, I told Pawel he made a lot of people happy today.

"It brings a tear to my eye, really," he said.

And, he was not alone.