Connolly bringing Stanley Cup to city on Monday
For Brett Connolly, this is what it’s all about as a Stanley Cup champion – the chance to bring hockey’s ultimate prize home.
Like a kid who can’t wait for Christmas, the 26-year-old Washington Capitals right winger has had Monday marked on his calendar ever since it was confirmed that will be his day with the cup, his chance to share it with the people of Prince George.
He will be there at CN Centre for the noon-hour celebration with his family, his friends, his teachers, his coaches and the fans who watching him grow up as he climbed the ranks in minor hockey and the major midget Cariboo Cougars and cheered the magic he made on the ice in three WHL seasons with the Prince George Cougars before he went too the NHL.
“I’m really excited. Prince George is where I got my start, where I kind of got that belief in myself I could play hockey and I could play at the professional level and it just took off from there,” said Connolly.
“I owe the city a lot, I owe a lot of people a lot and this is one way I can repay them.”
Connolly has requested a short-andsweet event without any long speeches so he has more time to spend with his fans.
Kids who come to the event dressed in their Prince George Minor Hockey jerseys will be able to watch the celebration from a special section at the front of the stage. From 12:30-2 p.m., people can line up to have a photo taken with Connolly and Lord Stanley’s mug at the front of the CN Centre stage.
A silent auction and raffle of hockey memorabilia autographed by Connolly and the Capitals will be open to the public starting at 9 a.m. on Monday at the main entrance to CN Centre. There are still opportunities for fans to win a VIP experience for two with Connolly before the public presentation.
Tickets for that are on sale at the TicketsNorth box office or Cougars office at CN Centre with a suggested minimum of $5 each.
All proceeds from the raffle and auctions will go to the Brock Hirsche Memorial Scholarship Fund at the University of Lethbridge. Hirsche, who died of cancer in April, was a WHL teammate of Connolly’s with the Cougars.