Phil Pritchard and Craig Campbell, their white gloves, crested blazers, the Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe Trophy had been aboard an NHL constitution Saturday in Edmonton, wheels up about 9 a.m. native time sure for Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
At landing scheduled for the late afternoon, sure for Sport 7 of the Stanley Cup Ultimate on Monday between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers at Amerant Financial institution Area (8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN, TVAS, CBC), hockey’s most coveted trophy would have flown about 12,000 miles in the course of the Ultimate — almost 20,000 kilometers for these on the metric system.
It is the primary time the trophy has crossed the border between Canada and the US 5 instances in a sequence since 2011, when the champion Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks went the seven-game restrict.
“It’s been one heck of a sequence,” Pritchard stated with fun lower than hour earlier than the constitution left Edmonton, having simply seen the trophies via safety and U.S. Customs and Border Safety.
Pritchard is curator of the Hockey Corridor of Fame. He’s additionally vp of the shrine’s Useful resource Heart and Archives, however to hockey followers, he’s the “Keeper of the Cup,” the Stanley Cup’s most outstanding historian, journey agent, tour information, silver polisher and bodyguard.