Slurpees, Slip N Slide and helicopters: How each Avalanche player spent their day with the Stanle

Slurpees. Beer. Pancakes. Beer. French toast. Tomato juice. Beer. More beer. Ice cream. Beer.

These substances all made their way into the Stanley Cup’s bowl this offseason as the Avalanche celebrated their first championship since 2001. The trophy traveled across the Atlantic Ocean and back, all so each player could have it for a day of celebration. Here’s a look at how each one spent their day.

Each pin represents where a player took the Stanley Cup.

Nicolas Aube-Kubel

July 9, Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, Canada

Aube-Kubel, who signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs this past offseason, dropped the Cup on the ice shortly after Colorado’s Game 6 win, leaving a dent. The impression was fixed before Aube-Kubel’s Cup day, but he kept a sense of humor about it.

“Hopefully, it stays undented and in good shape,” he joked in the morning.

The forward’s day started at his home, where family and friends gathered to see the trophy. The Cup sat on a table by the backyard pool, and he posed for pictures with his guests. Mochi, his black petite pug, even sat in the bowl for a photo.

Nicolas Aube-Kubel early in his day with the #StanleyCup: "Hopefully it stays undented and in good shape.”

From Sorel-Tracy: The story of the Cup-denters Cup day, which included shotgunning beers, traditional soup and a stop at a ring storehttps://t.co/qpfvJjxawQ

— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) July 10, 2022

Aube-Kubel had a parade through his town’s small downtown area, stopping along the route to bring the trophy into several meaningful spots: a restaurant owned by a friend, the shop where he bought his fiance’s engagement ring and a barber shop he went to growing up. He shotgunned multiple beers along the route, too, then poured a popular local drink that mixes tomato juice and beer into the Cup for a few sips. After attending a ceremony and taking pictures with fans in the town square, he took a two-decker boat with friends down the river, then closed the day with a party on land.

Samuel Girard

July 10-11, Roberval, Quebec, Canada

Since Girard didn’t get the Cup until the afternoon of July 10, he also got it for the first half of July 11.

“Did a parade, spent some time with it with my family,” Girard said. “Had a party with all my uncles, friends, family.”

He also took it to the shores of Lac Saint-Jean, where he posed for pictures. Like Aube-Kubel, he also put one of his dogs, Nordi, in the Cup for a photo.

J.T. Compher

July 15, Northbrook, Ill.

Compher, his girlfriend and family converged at his childhood home, where they ate chocolate chip pancakes cooked by his mom, Valerie, out of the Cup. He took it to his bedroom, still decorated with hockey gear and Chicago White Sox memorabilia, and set it on the bed.

He brought the trophy to the fire station, then went to a rally at the rink where he grew up skating. He gave a speech and took photos with kids.

“Then I went to downtown Northbrook and did some of the fun landmarks in our town, like a bar and baseball field,” he said. “After that it was just parties with family and friends.”

Jack Johnson

July 16-17, Dublin, Ohio

Like Girard, Johnson had a split Cup day. He got the trophy the afternoon of July 16 and also had it the first part of July 17. He celebrated his day in the Columbus area, which became his home during his seven-season Blue Jackets tenure. The longtime defenseman had promised his three kids they could eat ice cream out of the Cup, and they did, making a stop at Dell’s, a local ice cream parlor.

Johnson’s family is full of athletes: His brother-in-law, Brady Quinn, played quarterback at Notre Dame and then in the NFL; his sister-in-law, Alicia Quinn, (formerly Sacramone) won a 2008 Olympic medal in gymnastics; and his brother-in-law, A.J. Hawk, won a Super Bowl with the Packers. They all posed for a picture with the Cup, each showing off their hardware. Johnson, who signed with the Blackhawks this offseason, kept his hands on the Cup and wore the silver medal he won at the 2010 Olympics.

A winning family! Jack Johnson shows off the #stanleycup and @Olympics medal, while brothers-in-law AJ Hawk sports his @SuperBowl ring and Brady Quinn proudly displays his college Awards..Sister-in-law Alicia Quinn is wearing her Olympic medal. @Avalanche @nhl @HockeyHallFame pic.twitter.com/5gDmnY3DSo

— Philip Pritchard (@keeperofthecup) July 22, 2022

The kids didn’t only get to eat out of the Cup. They got baptized in it, too.

A tidbit from Jack Johnson’s time with the #StanleyCup: His three kids’ baptism was planned before the playoffs, and it turned out the date was Johnson’s day with the Cup. So the kids got baptized in the Cup itself.

Photos courtesy of Jack’s wife, Kelly Johnson: pic.twitter.com/n2Bb3PE9N9

— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) July 24, 2022

Pavel Francouz

July 22, Pilsen, Czechia

Francouz started his Cup day — the first of the European tour — with his close family. They enjoyed coffee and cake and time with the trophy, then drove a World War II vehicle to the Pilsner Urquell Brewery, the home of the world’s first pale lager. Francouz drank the beer from the Cup during his day.

“They took me to the underground where they’re still making the beer in big kegs,” the goalie said. “We had a little lunch there, then there was the public part of my celebration. We took it outside and people had a chance to take pictures with it.”

He closed the day with a private party at a smaller brewery.

Nico Sturm

July 23, Augsburg, Germany

Sturm brought the Cup to the Augsburg city hall, as well as the Augsburger Panther stadium, into which fans flocked to get a glimpse of the trophy.

“Most important to me was that the youth teams and the little kids in my hometown got to see it,” Sturm said in a text to The Athletic.

The forward, who signed a three-year deal with the Sharks in free agency, had a private party in the evening.

Gabriel Landeskog

July 26, Stockholm, Sweden

“It feels like you’re planning a small wedding when you’re planning your day with the Cup,” the captain said.

His day included a trip to his elementary school, childhood rink and a hill overlooking Stockholm.

As captain, Landeskog got a second day with the trophy, which came Aug. 25 at his offseason home in Ontario.

The captain enjoying every minute of his day with the #stanleycup by cleaning it, posing with it while overlooking stockholm, checking out the history of it. @Avalanche @GabeLandeskog92 @nhl @HockeyHallFame pic.twitter.com/DCMHeUAkfu

— Philip Pritchard (@keeperofthecup) July 29, 2022

Andre Burakovsky

July 27, Malmo, Sweden

Burakovsky signed with the Kraken in the offseason, so his Cup day served as one of the final celebrations of his time with the Avalanche.

“It was a great day,” Burakovsky told Seattle reporters after his signing. “Long day. Lots of parties.”

One of those parties was at Blommeröd Arabian Stud, an event venue featuring food, drinks and horseback riding.

Artturi Lehkonen

July 29, Piikkio, Finland

“I took it to my grandparents. That’s what I really wanted to do,” Lehkonen said.

He also took it to the rink at which he grew up playing, the Sports Science Lab and even a sauna with friends. Rantanen cheered him on during a parade in the evening.

Mikko Rantanen

July 30, Nousiainen, Finland

Rantanen and close family members had breakfast at his parents’ house. The winger’s grandmother made traditional Finnish porridge.

“I don’t know if they have it here,” he said.

He then went to the main area of town, where a stage was set up for him. He took pictures there with fans.

He went to Turku, a major Finnish city only approximately 15 minutes outside Nousiainen, for the evening. The forward rented a place to host a party with approximately 80 family members and friends.

“The rest of the night was just enjoying that,” he said.

Josh Manson

Aug. 3, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada

Manson spent two hours showing the Cup to minor hockey players in his hometown.

“I wanted to make sure all the young kids in the city that played hockey got to see what the dream was,” he said. “Hopefully that gives them a little more oomph to continue on in hockey.”

He then went to a lake with family and friends and took the trophy out on the boat. He wake surfed on the water as friends watched with the Cup.

Josh Manson is not just a talented hockey player. Another calling? (Christopher Lake, SK) #StanleyCup @Avalanche @NHL @HockeyHallFame pic.twitter.com/Df6uuA2g6w

— Philip Pritchard (@keeperofthecup) August 5, 2022

“I didn’t get a whole bunch of time on the boat with it,” he said. “I would’ve liked to spend a bunch of time on the boat. Maybe in the future.”

There’s one way to make that happen.

Ryan Murray

Aug. 4, White City, Saskatchewan, Canada

Murray, who is now with the Oilers, took the Cup to a children’s hospital in Regina, and he also posed for pictures with fans outside a local rink. The town also put up a “Welcome to White City, proud home of Stanley Cup Champion Ryan Murray” sign, which he posed in front of with friends. He also went the the fire house and spent time on the lake.

They are so proud of their boy! (White City, SK) #StanleyCup @Avalanche @NHL @HockeyHallFame pic.twitter.com/acQYwR3Ror

— Philip Pritchard (@keeperofthecup) August 5, 2022

Darcy Kuemper

Aug. 5, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Kuemper had already signed with the Capitals when he had his day with the Stanley Cup, but he put on Avalanche gear one last time for the occasion, sporting a gray championship T-shirt. He made stops at the children’s hospital and police station before an evening with loved ones.

The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir recently caught up with Kuemper and asked him about his favorite part of the day.

“One part that might not (have) been shown as much was, after the hospital and the police station, we went back to my parents’ house,” the goalie said. “It was just family. My grandparents, aunts and uncles. It had been a long time since everyone had been together because of COVID. So, to have the Stanley Cup there, too, that made it even more special.”

Logan O’Connor

Aug. 10, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

O’Connor had breakfast with his family to start the day, then took it to O’Connor’s, the menswear store in Calgary started by his grandfather.

“That was probably the highlight of the day — sharing it with extended family (and) my grandpa,” he said.

O’Connor’s dad, Myles, still runs the store, and Logan loved showing the trophy to the longtime staffers who have seen him grow up.

The forward then took the Cup to an area with a view of the Calgary skyline, where he posed for pictures with friends. By this point, O’Connor estimated there were approximately 30 people in his travel party. They took a party bus from stop to stop.

The best of friends!#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/YrVNqxRLCW

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) August 10, 2022

After going to his community rink, he went to his backyard for a couple hours.

“That was more low key, intimate with really close friends and family,” he said.

Then came a bigger party with barbecue in the evening. Cale Makar, his fellow Calgarian, came by for the festivities. The two got some extra time with the Cup, too. The day before O’Connor’s Cup day, the trophy arrived in time for he and Makar to have it for the evening. They took it down the river on a boat and had a joint family dinner with it.

Cale Makar

Aug. 10, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Makar made pancakes in the morning and ate them out of the Cup with his family. He also took time to go to the community and minor hockey rink, and he and his brother, Taylor, drank a slurpee with straws out of the trophy’s bowl. He had a family barbecue in the afternoon before a larger party in the evening with “a lot of people who helped me get there.”

Makar said his most meaningful moment with the Cup was sharing it with his grandmother, Helen, in her residence facility.

Cale Makar shows his grandmother where the @Avalanche will have their names engraved on the #StanleyCup. @NHL @HockeyHallFame (Calgary, AB) pic.twitter.com/K1giu9qeIp

— Philip Pritchard (@keeperofthecup) August 12, 2022

Bowen Byram

Aug. 16, Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada

After eating French toast out of the Cup, Byram spent the morning taking it to various community sites, including the fire station, local hospital and police department. He went to the rink and took pictures with fans and also saw Cranbrook’s old-timers team. He also spent a few hours at one of his family’s favorite restaurants.

“Then headed back to my parents place and that’s where it kind of got out of hand,” Byram said, adding that “pretty close” to the whole town was in his backyard.

“It was a lot of fun,” the defenseman said.

Bowen Byram and his family pose for a picture with the Stanley Cup in Cranbrook. (Courtesy of Stacey Byram)

Darren Helm

Aug. 18, Detroit

Helm first won the Cup with the Red Wings in 2008, and he spent his Cup day that summer in his home province of Manitoba. He played with Detroit his whole career until signing with the Avalanche in 2021, and the city became his home, so it’s where he chose to have his second day with the trophy. It was a family-oriented day spent between his house and a local country club, and his kids got to eat both cereal and ice cream out of the Cup.

Nathan MacKinnon

Aug. 20, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

MacKinnon got the Stanley Cup for a private party the evening of Aug. 19, then had an early start to the day Aug. 20. He brought the trophy to Cole Harbour Place, a community center with two rinks on which he grew up playing. Then came a stop at his family house, as well as a parade through downtown Halifax.

“I’ve never seen him that happy in my life,” MacKinnon’s close friend Ian Saab told The Athletic after the parade. “I’ve never seen that face before.”

After the parade, MacKinnon took the Stanley Cup to Camp Hill Veterans Memorial Building, where he visited his late grandfather with the Memorial Cup back in 2013. He stopped at a children’s hospital, as well as a Halifax Wanderers professional soccer game. He spent the evening at Saltyard Social, a scenic restaurant with a view of the harbor. Landeskog and Andrew Cogliano both attended, as did Sidney Crosby and Brad Marchand, two of Nova Scotia’s highest-profile players.

Nathan MacKinnon in Halifax pic.twitter.com/AeqZG3clgz

— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) August 20, 2022

Alex Newhook

Aug. 22, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada

Newhook had a jam-packed day in St. John’s. He took pictures along the water, went on a helicopter ride, had a parade and celebrated with stops at bars and parties. He had a ball hockey game between his friends from Newfoundland and his friends from out of town, making two sets of shirts: burgundy ones that read “Team NL” and light blue ones that said “Team Mainland.” Newhook refereed and the Newfoundlanders came away with the win.

“It was funny,” Newhook said. “All my buddies who came (from out of town) were all pro guys and guys who still play, and then my buddies from home barely play and they won.”

Andrew Cogliano

Aug. 26, Vaughan, Ontario, Canada

“Had a bunch of people over in the morning, just family and friends,” Cogliano said. “Went to the local rink. A bunch of hockey teams came. Took it to a place for disabled people for an hour or so. Basically at night just rented out the patio downtown in Toronto and had fun.”

MacKinnon, who was in Toronto for a BioSteel camp, stopped by Cogliano’s party in the evening.

Nazem Kadri

Aug. 27, London, Ontario, Canada

Kadri’s Cup day included what is believed to be the trophy’s first visit to a Mosque, taking it to the London Muslim Mosque. The now-Flames forward also had a parade, received a key to the city and spoke to a crowd of fans.

“There’s a reason why I’m not just at home celebrating with my family,” he said during his speech. “I wanted to come out and share it with you guys.”

Nazem Kadri brings the Stanley Cup to the London Muslim Mosque.

This is believed to be the first time in history that the Cup has entered a mosque. @HkyNightPunjabi @NHL @Sportsnet pic.twitter.com/wRIZAm8hvv

— Amrit Gill (@AmritG) August 27, 2022

Kurtis MacDermid

Aug. 29, Sauble Beach, Ontario, Canada

MacDermid brought the Cup to the local rink he played at growing up and took pictures with kids there. The mayor organized a parade, which the defenseman said was a lot of fun.

“We have a family campground that we run back home, so I took it on a tour through there, then stopped off at the fire department and police station, took pictures with those guys and women,” he said.

He capped off his day at his parents cottage on the lake.

Devon Toews

Sept. 2, Denver

Toews’ day included a trip to a golf course, as well as a venue in Cherry Creek with a rooftop pool. He also made sure to spend some time at home with the trophy.

“It was just nice to have family friends enjoy it,” he said. “Just for them to have the memory of holding it, getting a picture with it, drinking out of it, it’s pretty cool.”

Erik Johnson

Sept. 3, Denver and Del Mar, California

Johnson did a slip-and-slide with the Cup in his yard, and he brought it to Family Sports in Centennial so fans could see it. He also took it to a children’s hospital.

It'a Labour Day weekend, the unofficial end to summer….so you might as well have some fun and live it up @6ErikJohnson style with the #StanleyCup @Avalanche @nhl @HockeyHallFame pic.twitter.com/Loz0gKxjyS

— Philip Pritchard (@keeperofthecup) September 5, 2022

He then flew to Southern California where he had a party in the evening and spent time at Del Mar Racetrack. At Del Mar, he saw Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who brought the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

The time change from Denver to California gave Johnson an extra hour with the Cup.

Varleri Nichushkin

Sept. 23, Denver

The Cup didn’t travel to Russia this summer due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine, so Nichushkin hasn’t had his official Cup day yet. The hope is he’ll be able to in the future. He did, however, get a few hours to celebrate with the trophy one evening during training camp. He had a dinner at Le Bilboquet, a French restaurant in town.

“Everybody had a picture,” he said. “Kind of quiet — 8 a.m. practice the next day. Nothing crazy.”

(Top photo of Jack Johnson and family courtesy of Johnson’s wife, Kelly)

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