Stanley Cup makes first appearance in Coaldale
Tradition dictates the players and staff of the Stanley Cup champions each get to spend a day with the Stanley Cup.
Tuesday, for the first time, this tradition brought the Stanley Cup to Coaldale in southern Alberta.
Wade Klippenstein is the director of amateur scouting for the Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche.
But he’s also proud to call Coaldale home.
He wouldn’t want to spend his cup day anywhere else.
“This is where my kids grew up to me it's more about them and their friends. This is where my wife's friends are from. She works in Lethbridge as a nurse so this is home," said Klippenstein.
Klippenstein got to spend his day with the cup in his backyard with friends and family.
While he enjoyed his experience with the cup he found that it seemed to fly by.
“You know what it's probably something I'll enjoy more in photos and in videos, it's happening quick. The day's gone by super fast so I'm glad to be able to share it with friends and family," Klippenstein said.
He’s not the first person from Coaldale to win the Stanley Cup but he is the first person to spend his day with the cup in the town.
It was important to Klippenstein to spend this important day with those closest to him.
His wife Ashley thought the whole thing didn’t even seem real.
“It's a bit weird still to be honest. It's only going to be here for a couple hours but it's really nice that we get the opportunity to have it," she said.
While the Stanley Cup was the guest of honour there was another guest present who helped make the day possible, namely the keeper of the cup, Mario Della-Savia.
He’s been with the cup during its western Canadian trip.
While the trip is winding down, it’s certainly been a busy one for Della-Savia.
“We've been in Saskatoon of course and Humboldt. We've been in Innisfail, we're going to Calgary then we're here today in Coaldale” Della Savia said.
While it was an exciting day, Klippenstein said he wished he had more time to spend with the cup.
He’s hoping for an Avalanche title repeat so he can get that opportunity again next summer.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.