With less than a minute left in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final Monday night, the Edmonton Oilers dumped the puck deep into the Florida Panthers’ zone and chased it.
Up 2-1, Panthers players rushed in, leading to a scuffle along the boards. About 2,000 kilometres away in Six Nations of the Grand River, Ont. — where Panthers defenceman Brandon Montour partly grew up — his family and community members at a watch party counted down.
“The whole crowd there was counting down ‘4-3-2,’ and the whole time, [I was thinking] ‘no way,'” Montour’s aunt Jaime Montour told CBC’s Metro Morning after the game. “It was fantastic.”
There have been similar parties there since Game 4 — when Florida led the series 3-0 — with the specific goal of cheering on Montour. The win means a lot for Six Nations, community members say, and they’re proud of Montour.
On Tuesday morning, Jaime said the result was still sinking in. The Panthers won the series 4-3 in Sunrise, Fla., a franchise first for the team.
“When they won, I jumped up. And I jumped up so fast that I got one of those head rushes and then I had to sit down,” she said. “There were people crying. I was not alone when it came to that.”
Jaime said she “choked” when she saw her nephew hoist the Stanley Cup.
“Brandon, you have no idea the impact that he is doing for First Nations people,” she said. “No clue how big it is for them. To inspire a community, not just this community, but other communities in Canada,” she said.
Unable to sleep after the game, Jaime said she scrolled through social media and saw multiple posts about him inspiring other Indigenous people.
“It’s giving hope,” she said. “So many members of the community are going through hard times and this brought them together.”
After the game, a post on the Six Nations elected council’s Facebook page read: “For the first time in the modern era of the National Hockey League, a member of Six Nations of the Grand River has won hockey’s greatest prize. Congrats #62, #WelcometoSixNayStanley.”
Before the final game, in a video on Facebook, Six Nations Coun. Greg Frazer thanked community members for sending in donations for the watch party which could go toward purchasing memorabilia and lawn signs, which were popular.
“Brandon’s gonna bring that cup home,” he said.
In a post-game interview, Montour told Sportsnet that’s exactly what he’ll do.
For Jace Martin, who’s also from Six Nations, hearing Montour say that was “actually really emotional.”
Martin, a musician, watched Game 7 from a different watch party, which he also performed at.
The crowd there was silent at the end of the game, afraid to risk jinxing anything until the win was secure. “I wasn’t even playing in the game but it was stressful.”
An athlete as well, Martin said sports are a way for Indigenous people to connect with non-Indigenous communities. And, he said, “the impact of an Indigenous person winning at the highest level” is important.
The Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in the Stanley Cup final, ending the Oilers comeback playoff run and dashing the hopes of many Canadian hockey fans.
When he was growing up, Martin said, seeing Indigenous success on TV encouraged him, so he thinks Montour’s victory will do the same for young people today.
“When you see someone like you have that success and get to the top, it just changes something in you,” he said. “No one will be able to take that from you.”
Montour, who Martin interviewed for a TV show he was hosting last year, sets a positive example as someone who’s health-focused and committed to his goals, he said.
This is the second year in a row Six Nations had the chance to cheer Montour on through a Stanley Cup final. Last year, the Panthers lost to the Las Vegas Golden Knights in Game 5.
Montour is one of several players in the final who are from the Hamilton area, including Darnell Nurse and Adam Henrique with the Oilers and Panthers player Carter Verhaeghe, who scored a goal and got an assist in Monday’s game.