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Keeping up with the Cup: July 28

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THE 401 EXPRESS. If you’ve ever driven in Ontario, it’s likely that you’ve spent at least some time on the Macdonald-Cartier Freeway. Similar to the prefixes bestowed upon Southern California freeways, it’s known as The 401, just like The 10, The 405, The 101. It’s also busier than those freeways, averaging more vehicles per hour in the more congested areas of Toronto than any other freeway in North America. An artery linking Detroit with Toronto (and extending northeast towards the Quebec border, it carries 60 percent of all vehicular trade between the United States and Canada.

Over the last week, it also carried the Stanley Cup. From Waterford down to Simcoe, farther west into a Detroit suburb and east once more to London and Woodstock, the Stanley Cup traversed The 401 last week while spending some quality time with Nelson Emerson, Rob Blake, Mike Donnelly, Drew Doughty, Jeff Carter and Jake Muzzin.

There are advanced stats relating to road trips through Canada. For every minute you spend on the road, the more likely you are to visit a Tim Horton’s. It’s a watertight formula.

 

 

I believe this qualifies as two trips to Timmy H’s.

A tip of the cap to Blake, who shared part of his day with John Stevens and his mother, Audrey, a resident of Norview Lodge in Simcoe. Via the Simcoe Reformer:

While Stevens had the honour of squiring the trophy around Wednesday, it was actually in Simcoe courtesy of NHL hall-of-famer Rob Blake, of Simcoe, the Kings’ assistant general manager and former captain. Stevens had already spent his time with the cup in New Jersey. However, Blake shared part of his day with Stevens, whose mother Audrey is a resident of Norview. Blake has a connection with Norview dating back to Norfolk naming the street it’s located on as Rob Blake Way. This is the second time the cup has come to Norview. Blake took it there in 2000 after he won it while playing as a star defenceman with the Colorado Avalanche. Valerie Holland, program and volunteer supervisor at Norview, says residents get a kick seeing the famous trophy paraded through the hallways. “For Audrey Stevens, it’s an incredibly proud moment for her to have her son bring it here,” Holland said. “It’s created quite a buzz among the residents.”

Back on American soil, Mike Donnelly and Aaron Rodgers protector T.J. Lang showed off their rings.

 

And then it was Drew’s turn. After a family event and a round of golf in London, Doughty also found some beach time with Lord Stanley.

There was also a party bus and a Reggie sighting.

 

After a crosstown exchange, the Cup continued its London weekend under the oversight of Jeff Carter, who is beginning to fill up both hands with some impressive jewelry.

And then he posed with the Cup for — GOOD LORD, THAT CUPCAKE COULD FEED FOUR PROVINCES.

 

If you’re a regular Waking up with the Kings reader, you know that every morning after a game is Jake Muzzin Day, but yesterday it was actually Jake Muzzin Day in Woodstock, Ontario.

Click here for a photo gallery and an article from the Woodstock Sentinel Review. From the Sentinel Review:

Muzzin was kept busy throughout the day. He received the Cup following Jeff Carter’s day with it from Howie Borrow and Mike Bolt, the Hockey Hall of Fame Stanley Cup handlers, at 8 a.m. Sunday at his parents place before heading to Beachville to visit his grandparents. For his family, the day was a dream come true. All the early morning practices, long distances to travel for tournaments and unavoidable costs that come with hockey were rewarded tenfold. “It’s totally unbelievable. We started just to have fun and it was a way to spend time with him,” Ed Muzzin said. “It kept progressing and resulted in this. One minute you’re shooting pucks in the driveway and now he’s holding the Stanley Cup above his head. He dreamt since as long as I can remember to do this and for him to do it is amazing.

 

 

A GOOD READ. Here’s Deborah Lew’s story of Tanner Pearson’s day with the Stanley Cup.

To finish off a spectacular day, Pearson brought the Cup back to his home where he threw a party for family, friends, and people who influenced his hockey career. Among the 200 guests in attendance were the coach and general manager of the Barrie Colts, Pearson’s junior team, as well as Scott Sabourin and Andy Andreoff, who were both Black Aces on the Kings roster during the playoffs.

“I think growing up, all you dream about is winning it, not really knowing that you get a day with it, but it was pretty cool,” explained Pearson. “We had a good game plan and we executed it well.”

With 25 games played during the regular season, Pearson will still be eligible for the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s Rookie of the Year next season, as a player must have played 26 or more games the prior season (in addition to other factors which are irrelevant in Pearson’s situation) in order to be ineligible for rookie status.

So how does it feel to win a Stanley Cup even before your rookie year?

“It’s really special to win it your first year, but you look at [Robyn] Regehr when he lifted that Cup and how hard he’s worked for 15 or so seasons already, so for him to lift that Cup was pretty cool to see, but to do it the first year was pretty special, too.”

Schedule of Stanley:
June 24: NHL Awards, Las Vegas, NV
June 26-28: NHL Draft, Philadelphia, PA
June 29: Mark Yannetti, Topsfield, MA
June 30: Hubie McDonough, Manchester, NH
June 30: Denis Fugere, St. Jerome, QC
July 1: Michael Futa, Rexdale, ON
July 2-3: Tyler Toffoli, Ottawa, ON
July 3: Alyn McCauley, Gananoque, ON
July 4-5: Dustin Brown, Ithaca, NY
July 6: Jonathan Quick, Hamden, CT
July 9: Niklas Andersson, Smogen, Sweden
July 10: Christian Ruuttu, Helsinki, Finland
July 11-12: Marian Gaborik, Trencin, Slovakia
July 12-13: Anze Kopitar, Jesenice, Slovenia
July 14-15: Slava Voynov, Chelyabinsk, Russia
July 17: John Stevens, Sea Isle, NJ
July 18-19: Justin Williams, Ventnor, NJ, Cobourg, ON
July 20: Tanner Pearson, Kitchener, ON
July 21: Glen Murray, Bridgewater, NS
July 22: Nelson Emerson, Waterford, ON
July 23: Rob Blake, Simcoe, ON
July 24: Mike Donnelly, Northville, MI
July 25: Drew Doughty, London, ON
July 26: Jeff Carter, London, ON
July 27: Jake Muzzin, Woodstock, ON

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