One of the great traditions of the Stanley Cup is that each member of the team that wins it gets an opportunity to spend a day or so with the Cup wherever he chooses. Lord Stanley’s Cup started its summer with the Boston Bruins back on June 15 when the Bruins knocked off the Vancouver Canucks in Game 7, but its travels are really just beginning.
After the parade and a week of traveling throughout New England, Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs got the first turn with the Cup, bringing it to Yosemite National Park before assistant coach Doug Houda brought it to Whitefish, Montana on Tuesday.
The Cup will be on public display in Tewksbury at the Tewksbury Country Club on Saturday, July 9, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Team equipment manager Keith Robinson, a Tewksbury High graduate, is using his day with the Cup to share it with the community for a great cause. The team’s equipment manager for the past 17 years, Robinson asked TCC to host the Cup to help raise money for families of fallen soldiers. Admission will be $10 per person, with all money going to a charity that benefits this cause.
The first player to get his turn? Looks like Nathan Horton will get that honor. On July 17, Horton will bring the Stanley Cup to his hometown of Dunnville, Ontario, where he plans a celebration for the entire town that includes a parade, beer garden, live music and activities for kids. There will be some type of charity that benefits from the day, but that information was not available yet.
After Horton, the European contingency of the Bruins will get their days with the Cup. Tomas Kaberle will bring the Cup to his hometown of Kladno, Czech Republic, and David Krejci will keep it in the Czech when he brings it to Sternbeck. It will then cross the border into Slovakia, where captain Zdeno Chara shares it with the people of Trencin.
From there, the Cup will travel northeast with Tuukka Rask to Savonlinna, Finland, just across the border from Russia.
Ontario will be a hot destination at the end of July, with stops in Oshawa, Welland (just next to Niagara Falls), Guelph, Brampton, Peterborough, Ottawa, and Tillsonburg. The stop in Peterborough will be courtesy of Marc Savard, who missed most of the season with a concussion.
In August, the Cup will visit Quebec City with Patrice Bergeron, Maintoba with Shane Hnidy (Neepawa), Alberta with Johnny Boychuk (Edmonton), British Columbia with Milan Lucic (in Vancouver) and Mark Recchi (Kamloops), Prince Edward Island with Adam McQuaid, Nova Scotia with Brad Marchand, and finally in Newfoundland with Newfie Michael Ryder.
The trip to Newfoundland will only be the second. Detroit’s Daniel Cleary brought it there in 2008.
Tim Thomas is scheduled to bring the Cup back to his hometown of Flint, Michigan for at least one of his two scheduled days with the most prestigious trophy in sports.