Sam Reinhart – who was instrumental in leading the Florida Panthers to their first Stanley Cup — has brought Lord Stanley home.
The NHLer, who was born in North Vancouver and grew up in West Vancouver, was greeted on Sunday by hundreds of people who gathered to congratulate him and get an in-person look at the Stanley Cup.
It’s been a dream he’s had since lacing up his skates to play for the Hollyburn Huskies in West Vancouver.
“Bringing it back to Hollyburn, this is where it all started for all of our boys,” said Paul Reinhart, Sam’s father.
Sam says it’s a surreal feeling to bring hockey’s holy grail home — one he wasn’t sure he’d get to experience. His brothers, however, thought differently.
“I think me and my older brother realized it wasn’t going to be us but we always believed in Sam,” said Griffin Reinhart, one of Sam’s brothers.
The Florida Panthers forward addressed friends, fans, and family cheering for him in the crowd, saying he owes a lot of his success to his mother, Theresa. However, she was quick to spread the praise around.
“It’s been a team effort getting him here, his brothers paving the way for him, and his dad’s amazing coaching — and he’s an amazing father,” she said.
Theresa explains sports were always prevalent in the Reinhart family, but she never thought it would turn into something like this.
“It’s just great to see your kids achieve their lifelong dreams. It’s pretty exciting,” she said.
Reinhart scored the game-winning goal in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, making him a fan-favourite in the Vancouver hockey community, especially among young athletes.
“He’s just a player you really want to be like, you really want to have a similar skill set to,” one young hockey player said.
The Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup 2-1 in Game 7 of the Final against the Edmonton Oilers. Edmonton’s defeat extended Canada’s Cup drought to 31 years. The 1993 Montreal Canadiens remain the last team north of the border to hoist hockey’s holy grail.
The Panthers entered the winner-take-all Game 7 with none of the momentum on their side, having lost three in a row to squander a 3-0 deficit.
But it didn’t matter how they got there. A solid Game 7 performance in front of their fans denied Edmonton what would have been its first title in 34 years.
The game remained deadlocked 1-1 until the end of the second period. After stretches of sustained pressure by the Oilers in the offensive zone, Reinhart moved up the ice on a fast break. The winger patiently held onto the puck as he weighed his options before firing past a partially screened Skinner short side.
That goal was the eventual game-winner.
-With files from Kelsey Patterson