For the lucky and tenacious, chasing a moment with Lord Stanley's silver namesake was an opportunity to finally go full-Bruin.
For a father and lifelong Boston fan like Andre Eng, interrupting vacation time Monday afternoon to drive from Whistler to Abbotsford was his last-minute chance to pose with the Stanley Cup alongside his two children and family dog-all dressed in their black and gold finest. "You start thinking about it like a player. You don't know when you're going to get that opportunity again," he said.
Scott Bradley, the Boston Bruins director of player personnel and an Abbotsford native, had the Cup for the afternoon.
Speaking like an athlete armed with all the truisms, Eng said, "You have to seize the moment."
Eng very nearly took a trip to the top of Grouse Mountain, where Bruins winger and East Side native Milan Lucic forecasted he'd hoist the Cup.
The chance to get up close and personal with the coveted hockey hardware was heightened by knowledge Lucic dialed down tentative plans to put on a more public display and revel with hockey fans because of an unpredictable current of angst among a minority of badly behaved Canucks supporters.
Lucic took the Cup to his church and to the Serbian Cultural Centre, as well as the mountain top.
Leading up to Sunday, however, numerous readers contacted the Courier to express disappointment in the poor sportsmanship displayed by some Canucks fans since the Stanley Cup Final.
"Like Milan, I have done my best these last two months not to rub any salt into the wounds of Canucks fans," one self-described Bruins fan named Ray wrote to the Courier. "I've celebrated quietly and kept my euphoria to myself. I figured that staying quiet was fine and the respectful thing to do. I also thought that I would finally get my chance to publicly celebrate when Lucic brought the Cup to town."
Rather, he continued: "The poor sports in Vancouver have robbed hockey fans like us of an opportunity afforded to the rest of Bruins nation from coast to coast."
The Vancouverite, who did not give his last name, wanted a message passed to the East Side family whose son won a Memorial Cup with the Vancouver Giants, was in Vancouver when he was drafted to the NHL and then won a Stanley Cup in the hometown that had, until that point, unanimously come together to celebrate his athletic achievement: "Please pass my sympathies on to the Lucic family. I'm embarrassed to be a Vancouverite today."
Cup celebrations across the continent included parades, parties and other public festivities. When Brent Seabrook brought the silver chalice home to Delta last year after winning the Cup with the Blackhawks, another rival of the Canucks, he was heralded around the Lower Mainland.
Had Boston beat any other team, surely Lucic would be welcomed with the same warm reception and hometown pride. Indeed, pointed out Eng, he was saluted with a standing ovation by the few remaining fans at Rogers Arena following the Canucks Game 7 loss June 15.
"Most hockey fans first and foremost understand and appreciate the accomplishment. But for some people it's hard to separate the jersey colours and the name on the back of the jersey."
Twitter: @MHStewart
