Mike Gapski has been a faithful parishioner at Incarnation Parish in Palos Heights for 20 years or so. But he has been with the Chicago Blackhawks for longer. So when the head athletic trainer for the NHL champion Hawks got his day with the Stanley Cup June 30, he decided to share it not only with family and friends, but also with his parish family. “Hockey put my kids through school,” said Gapski, who rode into the Incarnation parking lot with the Stanley Cup on the back of a fire truck, making the journey from an ice arena about a half-mile down 127th Street. He started the day by sharing the cup with youth hockey players there. Gapski, his wife and their four children are fixtures at Sunday Mass at Incarnation, said the pastor, Father Ron Mass, unless Gapski is on the road with the team. Then the rest of the family comes without him. All of his children attended Incarnation School; two are still there. Word of the cup’s appearance spread quickly, both over the Internet and by word of mouth from parishioners. One group of fans slept overnight in a van in the parish parking lot to be first in line to have their picture taken with the cup. Others showed up by 7:30 a.m. for the event, which started at noon. Those in line were given about five seconds each to pose and have their picture taken — using their own cameras — with the gleaming 35-pound trophy, in exchange for a $5 donation. Proceeds went to the school scholarship fund, the Incarnation Athletic Association and TRAIN, the parish youth group. Overall, the event raised a little more than $3,000, Mass said. There were about 500 pictures taken (many with more than one person) and the parish made about $500 from the sale of bottled water. Police on the scene estimated that the crowd approached 2,000 people, corralled in a rope line on the lawn. They cheered when Gapski climbed onto the back of a flatbed truck to hoist the trophy as “Here Come the Hawks” and “Chelsea Dagger,” the Blackhawks goal song, played over the sound system. In welcoming the cup, Mass said some people might question the relationship between sports and faith, but he sees a connection. “Throughout human history, sports have played an important role in our culture, Mass said. “They provide entertainment, but it’s more than that. They unify people, they bring people together, they bridge the gap of ethnic and racial divides.” The Stanley Cup is perhaps the most beloved of sports trophies because it travels not only to the team that wins it every year, but with each member of the team for a day. Gapski was the first member of the Blackhawks organization to have the cup after team president John McDonough, and he brought it to Incarnation exactly three weeks after the Hawks won it. For the fans who came out — most of whom probably weren’t alive the last time the Blackhawks won it in 1961 — the wait on a pleasant day at Incarnation was worth it. Once the cup was brought inside for the photo shooting to begin, the line had to wait just a few minutes more, as a group of seniors got first dibs. Among them was Marlene Gapski, Mike’s mother and a parishioner at St. Linus in Oak Lawn. After having her picture taken with the trophy, Marlene Gapski put her arm around her son and said, “This is my biggest treasure.”