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ottawavalley .CA
April 14, 2016 l 44 pages
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InsideOttawaValley.com
Stanley Cup visit draws thousands to Renfrew ottawa COMMUNITY
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Tiffany Lepack
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tlepack@metroland.com
ottawa COMMUNITY
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brockville When the Stanley Cup arrivedbrockville .COM
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in Renfrew on April 5, it helped a dying man cross an item off his bucket list. Patrick Richard, a Montreal Canadiens fan, was the first in line to REGION REGION see the cup. As to how he scored the coveted spot, it was simple. “I got lucky,” said Richard. “I’ve been waiting to see it for a while.” .CA .COM As he had his photo taken with his daughter Angie, she became very emotional at the special moment. After the photo was over, she revealed her father, a devoted Habs fan, was diagnosed with cancer in January at only 58. At the time, the doctors gave him only three months to live. “We are crossing it off the bucket list,” said Angie. “We were planTIFFANY LEPACK/METROLAND ning on going in June.” M.J. Blimkie, Mario Della Salvo and Mike Bolt from the Hockey Hall of Fame and Doug Miller sit in the back She was very emotional seeing of a truck with the Stanley Cup as it is paraded through downtown Renfrew on April 5 on its way to the her dad with the cup. RCAF Wing. For more photos see page 26 and for a photo gallery visit www.insideottawavalley.com. “It’s overwhelming, I’m just so happy he got to see the cup.” not one but two important pieces started in Renfrew by M.J. O’Brien league we now know. The two trophies were brought of hockey history. Along with the and was later handed out as the Stanley Cup, the O’Brien Cup was championship trophy of the Na- to town by the Birthplace of the HOCKEY HISTORY tional Hockey League (NHL). The NHA/NHL museum and its comalso on display. The O’Brien Cup was handed NHL started from the NHA thus mittee of hardworking volunteers. More than 5,000 people Jim Miller, who spearheaded the streamed through the RCAF Wing out to the winning team in the Na- cementing Renfrew’s place in hockin Renfrew to get a glimpse of tional Hockey Association (NHA), ey history as the birthplace of the visit, stressed the cups in town was
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for the town and not the museum. “It’s for tourism. The whole town needs to play into it and to identify Renfrew as the birthplace and all of these stores would fill up,” said Miller. “We are thrilled and overcome with the excitement, it’s so nice to see us moving beyond our borders.” Renfrew was in the media spotlight on Tuesday morning as CTV Morning Live from Ottawa broadcast live from the museum and Miller was also interviewed by TSN 1200. VIPS
The cups started their day off at the museum for a VIP viewing with many people mingling around and standing in awe of the hockey history on display. “It’s great, it is so encouraging to see Renfrew being identified as the beginning of the NHA, which morphed into the NHL,” said Miller during the VIP session. “The issue is it started in Renfrew.” One of those people who stood silently always near the cup was Mike Bolt. He has been the keeper of the cup for 17 years, a job he calls an honour and a privilege. See HOCKEY, page 2