In the first real test of Village President Anan Abu-Taleb's commitment to making meetings move more briskly — and with the Stanley Cup on the line — Anan, a self-professed hockey fan, maneuvered the proceedings so those with an interest could watch the climactic, titanic struggle in Beantown.

The Oak Park village board takes its meetings seriously, but when village president walked into the budget discussion meeting Monday night and gave a "Go Hawks!" cheer to Trustee Bob Tucker, it looked like a shorter meeting might be in store.

The meeting started at 7 p.m. (shortly before the puck dropped) and discussions were underway. By about 8 p.m., President Anan Abu-Taleb asked for just one more round of comments so he could close the meeting. Because the talks were only preliminary (Abu-Taleb emphasized there will be plenty more), he achieved his goal (so to speak) and adjourned the meeting at 8:20 — plenty of time to see the Hawks take home the Stanley Cup.

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