After sharing the Stanley Cup with 500 adoring fans at the Harry Howell Arena in Waterdown, Ont., on Monday, Florida Panthers winger Carter Verhaeghe was coy about his plans for the rest of the day.
He said he planned to spend more time with close friends and family than he was able to when he won it with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2021.
But his wife Casey Engleson was more straightforward: “We’re going to go to his favourite lunch spot from growing up — Turtle Jack’s in Waterdown,” she told CBC Hamilton. “He’s going to try to eat some wings out of the Cup.”
The Florida Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 back in June.
According to staff travelling with the trophy, eating and drinking out the massive silver chalice is a common pastime during the one day National Hockey League championship winners each get with the Cup.
The tradition has been running since 1995, in which players typically parade the Stanley Cup around their hometowns and to parties with family and friends.
“It’s a different experience to see it in person,” said Austin Forbes, a 10-year-old Waterdown resident who was first, alongside his great-aunt Lynn Sartori, in a line of 500 people that snaked through the arena lobby, out the front door and down the side wall of the building. “All the NHL players have held it.”
The pair claimed their spot at about 9 a.m., well in advance of Verhaeghe’s arrival at noon. It was the start of what would grow into something of a kid party as the morning wore on. Roving gangs of children in hockey attire – detached from their adults who were holding spots in line – played games, ran around and watched every incoming vehicle for evidence that it could be holding the NHL star and the revered trophy.
‘Maybe I could make it to the NHL’
Mats Uznanski, 11, had a prime spot near the arena doors, in a place where he’d be able to watch Verhaeghe’s arrival. Being from Waterdown himself, he said it meant a lot for him to get to meet a local guy who’d made it all the way to the top – twice.
“I feel a lot more confident that maybe I could make it to the NHL,” he said.
Further back in line, Kingsley Baker and Zarah Alesi, both 11-year-old goalie partners on the Brampton Canadettes sported matching sweaters from a recent hockey tournament in Rochester and talked about what it would be like when they finally met Verhaeghe.
“Maybe we will ask him some questions,” said Alesi, a Waterdown resident. “Things like, ‘What’s it like, a day in the life of an NHL player?'”
Also in line were Flamborough dad Jamie Mitchell and his two kids Ayden, 9, and Jacob, 7.
“We always talk about the Stanley Cup,” said Jamie, referring to his younger son. He said they had been expecting a lot of people, but when they turned the corner to see the line go all the way behind the arena, he was crossing his fingers that they would make it inside.�
Family members beam with pride
By the time Verhaeghe stepped out of an SUV holding the massive trophy, the crowd was ready.
The hockey player was mobbed in a sea of children before making his way inside – past a photo of himself holding the Cup in 2021 – and setting up for photos in a nondescript community room on the arena’s main floor. He kept his grin going for more than an hour as family after family filed through the room, most toting kids too shy to utter a word.
“How many sticks have you broke?” asked one brave child.
“Too many,” responded Verhaeghe, 29, before offering some advice for the kids wanting to follow in his footsteps. “The biggest thing for me was never giving up. It’s mostly sticking to it and that’s kind of what got me here.
“Obviously a lot of people from this town support me,” he added, after a reporter noted you don’t normally see so many Florida Panthers jerseys in Ontario as were on display Monday.
“It’s great to share with everyone that helped me growing up here.”
Members of his family arrived, turning the drab room into a pre-party for the barbecue to be held that night at Verhaeghe’s parents’ house.
One aunt cried as she watched her nephew meet his fans; people fawned over Engleson’s engagement ring; and Verhaeghe’s 92-year-old grandmother Rose worked the room, chatting with everyone and jumping the line to hug her grandson and kiss the Cup.
Verhaeghe’s mother Karen beamed as she watched her son interact with his admirers.
“It’s really important for him to come here and do this for the local kids because if he had this opportunity as a child he would have loved it,” she said. “Looking back, you could tell he was really good at hockey at around five, but we just thought that was normal.”
Aunt and uncle Michelle and Johan Verhaeghe described Verhaeghe as a kid who was respectful and hard-working, saying he hasn’t changed much as an adult. Michelle joked that with his star rising, people no longer seem confused by the family’s Flemish name.
‘”It went from, ‘How do you spell that?’ to, ‘Are you related?'” she said, laughing.