Teemu Selänne presented the Stanley Cup trophy at Helsinki Rautatietor in August 2007. Iina Lievonen / AOP
Normally, players get to celebrate with the Stanley Cup for one day at home. Teemu Selänten in karkeloi, you could clearly stay longer.
– It was the longest Stanley Cup party I’ve ever been to, Philip Pritchard laughs in an interview with DucksStream, which you can watch at the end of the story.
Pritchard is the guy who carries the Stanley Cup with him in the summer when the members of the championship team carry the jug around their hometowns.
– We arrived (Finland) maybe on Friday morning and left on Sunday afternoon, Pritchard recalls.
The reason for the exceptionally long visit was logical. Apart from Selänte, only one other European played in Anaheim at that time: a goalkeeper Ilya Bryzgalov. He lived in the middle of Russia, and there were no daily flights from Helsinki.
– The alternative was to fly somewhere else or stay in Finland. Teemu said why would you go somewhere else? Stay here with me, Pritchard says.
– Normally, dudes only get a brace for a day, but Teemu got it for two and a half days.
Selänne drove the pitcher and his friends around Helsinki, from the seaside to karaoke bars.
– Teemu could even be president if he wanted to. Awesome guy!
Selänne noticed the video shared by DucksStream on Twitter and commented on it.
– Great times. Phil and his crew have seen it all. They could write a 10,000 page book on great cup stories.
Pritchard has been working at the Hockey Hall of Fame since 1988.
If the tweet doesn’t appear on your device, you can view it from here.