CHICAGO — After scoring the winning goal in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, the Blackhawks' Andrew Shaw dropped an F-bomb on an international TV audience during an on-ice interview.
The FCC may have cringed, but don't worry. His mom is giving him a pass.
"I thought, you know what, they played three overtimes of hockey. Physically and mentally, he was exhausted," said Darlene Shaw, who was at Game 1 but didn't know her son had scored until a Hawks fan told her.
Shaw's mom, after all, said she's heard it before.
"I have a husband who played hockey and sons who play hockey," she said. "I don't like it, but the soap went out the door years ago."
The 21-year-old Shaw's F-bomb came moments after his victorious, triple overtime tally against Boston, when NBC's Pierre McGuire asked him to take fans through his shot.
Shaw's full response: “It’s what we needed to do. Get guys going to the net, you know. We knew it wasn’t going to be pretty at this point. You know, it was a great shot, a great set up, f---ing, it was unbelievable. All the guys, you know, we deserved this. It was a great battle for us.”
Shaw told reporters afterward the use of an expletive was "a slip of the tongue."
His Worship Mayor Neil R. Ellis of Shaw's hometown of Belleville, Ontario also understands why the Blackhawks' young star accidentally did what he did.
"I caught that," said Ellis, 50, whose official title is "His Worship Mayor," a typical one for Canadian mayors. "Playing at that caliber and that long, you're exhausted. It wasn't anything disrespectful."
The goal gave Chicago a 4-3 victory and 1-0 series lead. Game 2 is Saturday at United Center.
"He's certainly not the first player to do it," said Jack Miller, the longtime broadcaster for the Belleville Bulls, the Ontario Hockey League team in Shaw's hometown. "You're in a very emotional situation, you just scored the biggest goal of your life, and you're 21 years old, and the crowd is absolutely nuts.
"You don't condone what he did, but there's a lot of emotion. Slipups happen. That's why they make blooper tapes."
Some would call Belleville, population 50,000, an NHL factory. The city is home to four current league players, including Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke and Calgary's Derek Smith.
The Western Conference Finals featured an all-Belleville matchup, with Shaw facing Los Angeles' Brad Richardson, who's from the city about a two-hour drive northeast from Toronto.
Blackhawks legend Bobby Hull and his brother Dennis are from Point Anne, Ontario — a now-abandoned town next to Belleville — and locals claim them as theirs.
Shaw was named Belleville's Athlete of the Year in 2010. Darlene Shaw and her husband Doug still live there, and Andrew Shaw's younger brother, Jason, recently played for the Bulls.
Ellis, 50, wasn't surprised Shaw scored the game-winner Wednesday.
"He always seems to be in front of the net," Ellis said. "That's been his whole career."
Miller said Shaw's goal is among the most important in Belleville's history, but it's not No. 1.
"If he does it again in the deciding game of the Finals, then that would be the biggest one," Miller said.
