Manitoba ties run deep for Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights
4 players that played Tuesday, multiple staff members have roots in the middle province
All Sheldon Howden could think about when he hoisted the Stanley Cup Tuesday night in Las Vegas was that he better not drop it.
Sheldon is the father of Oakbank's Brett Howden, one of four Vegas Golden Knights players from Manitoba who skated in the team's cup-clinching 9-3 win over the Florida Panthers Tuesday night.
"It's a family win. His two sisters spent a lot of time going to the rinks and watching his hockey when they wanted to do everything else but, so to get to this point it's a family win," said Howden.
"That's kind of how Brett feels too, you tell him how great he's done and he just comes right back at you and says, 'Well it's all of us, it's not just me.'"
The victory means plenty of Stanley Cup parties will take place across the province this summer — even though Manitoba's National Hockey League team was eliminated by the Golden Knights in the first round of the playoffs.
Vegas cruised to a Game 5 victory Tuesday night thanks in part to three goals from captain Mark Stone, from Winnipeg, who became the first player in 101 years with a hat trick in a cup-clinching win. He joins Jonathan Toews and Bobby Clarke, two notable Manitoba-born NHLers who captained their teams to Stanley Cup glory.
"It's the best feeling I've ever had in my hockey career," Stone told reporter Daren Millard, who is from Brandon, Man., on the ice following the game. "Other than probably getting married and having kids, this ranks up there pretty high."
Zach Whitecloud also made history Tuesday night, becoming the first player from Sioux Valley Dakota Nation in southwestern Manitoba to win the league's top prize. Whitecloud joins a group of Indigenous NHLers to win the cup, including legends Grant Fuhr and Bryan Trottier.
The defenceman tallied eight points in the playoffs, three of which came in the Stanley Cup final. It was another big step for the 26-year-old, who made his professional debut with Vegas in 2017 after being passed over in the NHL draft.
"It's something you've dreamt of as a kid and pretending I've won it on the backyard rinks … in Manitoba," he told Millard after the game. "Out there in minus-40-degree weather, can't feel my feet, my hands and you think about those times."
"It's where the passion for the game grew."
Brandon's Keegan Kolesar rounded out the quartet of Manitobans active in last night's contest. Winnipeg's Nolan Patrick and Byron Froese, who is from Winkler, are also part of the Golden Knights organization, but weren't active Tuesday.
The 26-year-old Kolesar said he couldn't wait to kiss the cup and drink beer out of it.
"Thinking about it, then when you lift it up, it feels pretty light," Kolesar said in an interview following the game.
The Golden Knights' Manitoba ties also extend to the front office.
General manager Kelly McCrimmon spent nearly three decades with the Brandon Wheat Kings, while assistant coach Ryan Craig also played junior hockey in Brandon. Additionally, Las Vegas's director of player personnel Vaughn Karpan is from Flin Flon and assistant director of player personnel Bob Lowes coached the Wheat Kings from 1992-2001.
"Really grateful that this has come together, that we were able to win on home ice because that hasn't happened in the last few years, so that made it a special night," McCrimmon told Sportsnet after the game. "The crowd was unbelievable, it's just amazing how long they stayed after the game even."
Howden said he wasn't sure when the parties would get underway in Manitoba, but the early indications are the players intend to make sure the cup has a lengthy stay in the province.
But for now, the Manitobans, along with their families, are looking to soak in the moment.
"I know just talking to Mark Stone last night that he said, 'Well, we're gonna have the cup in Manitoba for a while,'" said Howden.
"I don't know what that means, I don't know how long or when or anything, but I'm sure that will all be laid out to us eventually."
With files from Alana Cole