The PHT Stanley Cup tracker will keep tabs on how the St. Louis Blues spend their summer celebrating.
We’re back once again and on the trail of the Stanley Cup, which is traveling around the world this summer in the hands of the St. Louis Blues.
According to the Blues, the Cup will travel nearly 29,000 miles across three continents and five countries over the next two months.
This week, the Cup was in Western Canada, visiting head coach Craig Berube’s’ quaint hometown in Alberta and in Regina, where Brayden Schenn and Co. took the mug to Mosaic Stadium, the home of the Canadian Football League’s Saskatchewan Roughriders.
The Cup made its way to Busch Stadium two weeks ago as several of the Blues players hoisted it in front of thousands of St. Louis Cardinals fans.
And here’s Conn Smythe winner Ryan O’Reilly throwing out the game’s first pitch.
Ryan O'Reilly, with a high leg kick, throws a strike for the ceremonial first pitch.#StanleyCup | #TimeToFly | #stlblues pic.twitter.com/8ZzYtKVh8D
— Bally Sports Midwest (@BallySportsMW) June 26, 2019
Brayden Schenn got his day with the Cup in Saskatoon on Friday and took it right to the place where his father has worked for 28 years as a firefighter.
Schenn was seen wearing a firefighter helmet during the Blues’ parade with the Cup back in June.
“You always think if I win the Cup, you put the thoughts in your head of what I would do with it,” Schenn told the team’s website. “My dad is a firefighter, so this was important to me. I’m trying to do my best sharing it with a lot of people today.”
He also took it Royal University Hospital where he met with sick children, including 16-year-old John Bossaer.
Brayden Schenn took the #StanleyCup to Royal University Hospital on Friday and met 16-year-old John Bossaer.
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) July 5, 2019
Brayden: “So you a hockey fan?”
John: “Yeah.”
Brayden: “Who’s your team?”
John: “The Sharks.”
Brayden: “Well we beat them, so...” pic.twitter.com/kW2EafQwOK
The Cup then headed a few hours south, where Tyler Bozak and Jaden Schwartz shared their day with the Cup with the city of Regina on Saturday.
The duo planted a Blues flag on the Saskatchewan Legislative Building.
They then headed to where people where melons on their heads: Mosaic Stadium.
There, they paraded the trophy in front of thousands of Saskatchewan Roughriders fans who had assembled for the Canadian Football League’s game against the Calgary Stampeders. There wasn’t much to cheer for during the football game for fans -- the Roughriders lost 37-10 -- but Bozak and Schwartz, along with Schenn, got the crowd into a frenzy.
Earlier in the week, the Cup was a province over in Alberta.
Craig Berube, fresh off a three-year extension as bench boss with the Blues, took the Cup back to his hometown of Calahoo, Alta.
It’s not a big place -- the thriving metropolis boasts a population of just 85 -- but they were all out to congratulate Berube.
“We all grew up here,” Berube told the team’s website. “My dad and brothers lived on this farm or just down the road. We were grain farmers, cattle farmers, we had it all here, that’s how we grew up. It’s changed now, but still my dad lives here with his brothers and my uncle built a 9-hole golf course on the property over there.
“Every summer I come back once or twice, and when we play Edmonton I come back and visit if I have the chance. But this is the most special trip so far for me.”
His mother, meanwhile, was just as thrilled.
“I never dreamt it. Unreal,” said Ramona Berube, Craig’s mother. “I never thought of something like this (happening). It’s just great for everybody who was down at the arena to see it. You can see how much it means to everybody.”
Colton Parayko, meanwhile, got his day with the Cup in St. Alberta, a city northwest of Edmonton.
Parayko’s day also included an emotional moment as he, along with his grandfather and family, toasted his grandma, who died last November after a battle with cancer.
According to Parayko, a deal was made between grandmother and grandson that if the latter made the NHL one day, the former would take a shot of peach schnapps at her home in St. Albert any time he scored.
With her passing, the family honored the tradition on Wednesday.
“She was a special girl and she means a lot to me and my whole family,” Parayko said. “With me not being in St. Albert here and playing in St. Louis, the shots were a way we could frequently connect (during hockey season). In the summer when I came home, she begged me to score a few extra ones for her.”
“We had such a wonderful life together. I wish she was here to see this.”
Meanwhile, the mayor of Boston, Martin Walsh, made a nice gesture to Laila Anderson this week, congratulating her and the Blues for their Stanley Cup win.
Boston Mayor, Martin Walsh sends inspiring #stlblues fan Laila Anderson a personalized letter congratulating her on the Blues #StanleyCup win pic.twitter.com/988Sx5HRFW
— Andy Strickland (@andystrickland) July 4, 2019
“Dear Laila - We have never met, so let me begin by introducing myself. My name is Marty and I am a passionate, lifelong Boston Bruins fan,” Walsh wrote. “I am writing to you because a couple of weeks ago, I was at home, watching pre-game coverage of game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals, when I saw a story about you, your love of the St. Louis Blues, how the Blues players’ love you in return, and how you inspried an entire city and fan base. After watching the segment, I turned to my partner, Lorrie, and said, ‘This stinks! I love the Bruins and I want them to win! ... But I really want Laila to win, too!’
“I don’t know if you or your family plan to come back to Boston anytime soon, but if you should return please let me know as I would be very glad to meet you and your family and show you some more of Boston. I certainly can’t promise you a cooler experience than standing on the Garden ice kissing the Stanley Cup, but Boston’s a great city and would love to have you back.”
Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck