Stanley has been fishing, canoeing, mountain climbing and to sauna parties but never on a provincial tour - until now.
The Stanley Cup spent the day on Prince Edward Island touring Prince County Wednesday before taking a rest at the Confederation Centre of the Arts for a night-time viewing.
On the other end of the Island, Hockey Night in Canada host Ron MacLean was skating on the Murray Harbour ice with some lucky minor hockey players, an intro for the 13.5-hour Hockey Day in Canada broadcast on Saturday.
Hockey Day in Canada is more than intros and cut-ins for NHL games. It is an event that has embraced the entire province for the first time in its 12-year history.
The Stanley Cup relay started in Crapaud bright and early at 7 o'clock Wednesday morning. A line stretched around South Shore Actiplex with people anxious to catch a glimpse of the 120-year-old hockey trophy.
"It was awesome,'' said Phil Pritchard, better known as the ‘Keeper of the Cup'. He is the man the NHL charges with taking care of the chalice everywhere it goes.
"The smiles, not just from the little kids but the big kids as well was pretty amazing.''
Pritchard has been tagging along with Stanley since 1988, polishing it at least once a day or, in P.E.I.'s case, multiple times a day. He's been in plenty of commercials with Stanley and he's recognized often but he doesn't see himself as a celebrity.
"I just go along for the ride but it's arguably the greatest trophy in all of sport and the NHL and the Hall of Fame has done such a good job of getting it out there to people. That's what hockey is all about, the families that make the kids go to the 5 a.m. practices and the late-night practices,'' Pritchard said.
Today’s schedule / 7:10-8:30 a.m. - Stanley Cup visit at Morell Consolidated School. / 10:50-11:50 a.m. - Stanley Cup visit at Montague Wellness Centre. / Noon - Lunch with Cassie Campbell-Pascal and Ron MacLean, FiveEleven West Restaurant, Summerside. / 1-2 p.m. and 2:15 and 3:15 p.m. - Minor hockey clinics in various communities. / 8 p.m. - Stolen From a Hockey Card concert, Confederation Centre of the Arts, Charlottetown. - Tour officials
Pritchard and the Stanley Cup certainly aren't strangers to P.E.I., having visited three times in the past 10 years with Grant Marshall, Brad Richards and last year with Adam McQuaid. On those occasions, it was here one morning and gone the next.
This week, Stanley is officially on an extended vacation, travelling coast to coast - and yes, it's the real Stanley Cup.
"This is the one and only,'' Pritchard said. "It's usually one of the first questions I get asked ‘Is this the real one?' And it is. It is not a replica.''
Second most common question he gets asked - which team does he cheer for?
"We kind of joke about that,'' he laughs. "We don't really have a favourite team. We just hang out with the winners.''
Pritchard said for those who don't get a chance to see the Cup around the Island this week, he was told it's coming back this summer.
"Adam McQuaid told me he wants to bring it back again next summer,'' Pritchard said, referring to the Cornwall native who won last year with the Boston Bruins.
