CHICAGO — Cole Olmschenk and Patrick Gray brought some extra gear to their classes at the University of St. Thomas on Friday.
The friends since kindergarten, Illinois natives and St. Thomas roommates carried brooms while wearing Blackhawks jerseys following Chicago's four-game sweep of Minnesota in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.
By the way: The University of St. Thomas is located in St. Paul, Minnesota — also the home of the Wild.
"Walking around campus was really funny at times and other times was awkward," said Olmschenk, a 21-year-old junior majoring in mechanical engineering. "There were a lot of different reactions from Wild fans, ranging from 'OK that's pretty funny' to more colorful vocabulary that I will kindly omit. ... The whole day was pretty comical."
Cole Olmschenk and Patrick Gray (r.) walked around campus and to their classes with brooms. [Patrick Gray]
Their campus exploits went viral after sophomore Mary Kate Van Wagner tweeted the pic and garnered more than 1,000 retweets and nearly 2,000 favorites.
"I was sitting at breakfast in our school's cafeteria, 'The View,' when I looked out the window and saw the guys heading to class," Van Wagner said. "I noticed the jerseys right away but I didn't see the brooms at first. When I saw the brooms I thought it was hilarious."
Of the Twitter response, Van Wagner said: "My phone wouldn't stop buzzing. It was like boom, boom, boom, favorite after favorite. I had to turn it on silent because I was afraid the constant buzzing would annoy my roommates."
Hawks fans carrying brooms around a campus full of Wild fans. I applaud you, gentlemen. #swept pic.twitter.com/xDz6JNYAdL
— Mary Kate Van Wagner (@lovevdub95) May 8, 2015The Hawks beat the Wild 4-3 on Thursday night to complete the sweep, advancing them to their fifth Western Conference Finals in the last seven years. They also eliminated the Wild for the third straight season. They'll face Anaheim in the conference finals.
Gray came up with the idea to wear the Hawks uniforms and bring the brooms with them to class and around campus.
"I ran to our apartment building's supply closet and brought back two brooms to carry around," said Gray, also a 21-year-old junior mechanical engineering major. "It was a little scary walking around campus because there are so many Wild fans that go here. Most of them were pretty cool and laughed about it. The funniest thing I heard from people was a guy yelled out his car, 'Really man, you just had to rub it in!' and then he yelled to everyone walking around me, '$500 to anyone who knocks this guy out.'"
Gray said he and Olmschenk also couldn't believe Twitter's response to the photo.
"Cole and I lost all concentration in class and just kept watch on the favorites going up," Gray said.
Gray and Olmschenk, both Carmel Catholic High school graduates, said they're lifelong Hawks fans, well before the team's home games were on television. And they've noticed more Hawks backers coming out of the woodwork, even in the heart of Minnesota hockey country, in the postseason.
"There's Blackhawks fans everywhere," Olmschenk said. "Bandwagon or not, it's always a good time around playoff time ... sorry Wild fans."
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
