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Penguins equipment manager surprises young girl with leukemia with Stanley Cup visit

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NHL commissioner Gary Bettman gives the Pittsburgh Penguins the Stanley Cup for the second consecutive year.

Here’s a heart-warming Stanley Cup story out of Pittsburgh.

Penguins equipment manager Danny Kroll had his day with the Stanley Cup on Saturday. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, he decided to visit and bring the historic championship trophy to six-year-old Darran Dunlap, who is battling leukemia.

She was diagnosed in November at the age of five. Her father, Colin Dunlap, is a sports talk radio show host in Pittsburgh. He posted a video of the moment his daughter was surprised with the Stanley Cup at their doorstep.

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Fast forward to Wednesday, the day of the Penguins parade. Kroll texted Dunlap, said he thought he’d have the Cup for a couple hours on Saturday. He instructed Dunlap to keep his schedule open.

Colin and Raina never told the kids. They simply said that dad’s friend Danny was stopping by the house.

Then Kroll picked up the Cup at PPG Paints Arena, sent Colin a text on his way and showed up, Cup in tow.

“She went crazy,” Colin said of his daughter.

Dad was pretty emotional, too.

Colin said he lost it. Tears started flowing.

“I haven’t cried a lot through all of this,” he explained. “Your kid looks up to you. In order for them to stay strong, you have to stay strong. The diagnosis was one thing. You think, ‘We can’t change this. Let’s see how we’re going to beat it.’

It’s always neat to catch up on how folks celebrate their day with the Stanley Cup. It was great to see such a special moment for the Dunlap family.