Spending quality time with hockey’s holy grail
Stanley Cup makes surprise visit to Calgary
In the moments before the Lake Bonavista Atom 5 Breakers took the ice, head coach Mike Franco told his team about the legacy of the Stanley Cup. NHLers battle every year for a chance to hoist it over their heads, something most kids will never get to do.
Only he knew that across the hall stood hockey’s holy grail.
As the eight- and nine-yearold players strolled into the dressing room seconds later, they were surprisingly silent.
“It was overwhelming,” their coach said.
Eventually they started tapping it, feeling the engraved names, looking for their favourite teams, asking where the champagne was.
“I think it’s really cool and really shiny,” said Tristan Porter, a fan of the Edmonton Oil- ers “It’s pretty cool that the NHL players got to touch it and then we are touching it.
“We are really lucky that this got to happen.”
In a season where it looks more and more likely the famous cup won’t be handed out, these kids were more than happy to get their day with Lord Stanley. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
The chance to touch the cup came about thanks to the Scotiabank Community Hockey Sponsorship Program. The Breakers were selected ran- domly as Calgary’s winner.
Franco had known about the secret for about two weeks and used the ruse of a team photo to make sure all players were in attendance and on time.
“It blew me away and I had to keep it under wraps since then,” he said. “I wanted to make sure everyone was here, that everyone was on time, and I really wanted it to be a surprise, but I also wanted them to be able to bring family and friends.”
It’s been a whirlwind few days for Mike Bolt, the official keeper of the cup.
He’s been doing the same thing with kids in Toronto and Vancouver before the Calgary visit.
Winnipeg is next on his itinerary.
“We are in a tough situation right now with what’s going on at the highest level, but hockey is still being played and for these kids, this is a thrill of a lifetime for them,” said Bolt, whose job is to not let the cup out of his sight during the cross-country tour.
“All through the markets we have been to so far, the kids and the big kids have just been thrilled, they can’t believe the cup came to them.”