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Chronicles of Stanley: How Swede it is

[The Chronicles of Stanley is an occasional series this summer that tracks the Pittsburgh Penguins as they each get their special alone time with the Stanley Cup.]

The Stanley Cup is just like us!

Even the trophy has to follow standard airport protocols when going through security.

Now we know for sure the Stanley Cup isn’t filled with chocolate…

Anyway, the Cup made a stopover in Landshut, Germany to spend some time with Tom Kuhnhackl and friends before heading to the waiting arms of defensive wunderkind, Olli Maatta in Finland.

Maatta his youth hockey in Liiga, the top professional league in Finland, and more specifically with the team, JYP. He went back to his roots to share the fruits of his accomplishments with those currently on JYP’s squad and hopefully impart a little inspiration to the kids.

“Juniors were the first thing in my mind when I thought of the festivities,” Maatta said to NHL.com. “The Stanley Cup is so far away from Finland. …I wanted to give all [of them] some concrete motivation that it is possible to win and play in the NHL, even if you are from the small city of Jyväskylä.”

Maatta waiting patiently to take pictures with all the little players in attendance, even though, at times, wrangling the kids was about as easy as herding cats.

After hanging with the kids, he took the Cup to the town square of Jyväskylä. Thousands showed up on the cloudy and rainy day for a celebrate their hometown hero.

Maatta requested the presence of Finnish sports legend Matti Nykänen at the celebration. Nykänen is a four time Olympic medalist in the ski jump and Maatta considers him to be the toughest athlete in the entire country. Having long since retired from ski jumping, Nykänen formed a band and they performed at the celebration. (He’s the guy on the far left)

VP3_4045
VP3_4045

The Cup hung around the town center after the on-stage events so everyone could get a look at the chalice. Maatta went around and visited with people; obliging when fans wanted to take selfies.

He even selects his own filter, when given the chance.

Via jatkoaika.com
Via jatkoaika.com

The more intimate celebration came later that evening. The soon-to-be 22-year-old popped open the bubbly and let the party begin.

The next day, Maata had two more stops to make before his time with the Cup was over.

First, he visited a primary school and seemingly every single child there packed in a multipurpose room to see him. See you can find him in this picture.

He was grilled by the students in a Q&A.

From NHL.com:

Maatta took part in a question-and-answer session with students and fielded queries about what it felt like to win the Cup, how he lost his teeth and what Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is like.

“He is a really nice guy,” Maatta said of Crosby. “A really normal person.”

Then he moved on to what was probably the most important location of his visit, Central Finland Hospital.

At such a young age, Maatta has experienced health problems most regular people don’t see in the course of a lifetime. He’s had multiple upper-body injuries, including concussions, and had a cancerous tumor removed from his thyroid a year ago.

From the hospital’s website (translated from Finnish):

Määttä and the Stanley Cup – a unique visit to the trophy brought to jazz up the patients, parents and staff everyday life. The friendly and warm-hearted hockey player got many smiles during a visit at the time and made the day a memorable atmosphere.

Määttä and prestigious trophy went to greet the patients and their parents to the children’s section, newborn and adolescent psychiatry department. Määttä visited the hospital two hours. During the visit, he chatted with the children and young people, gave autographs and posed for numerous pictures.

“I wanted to come to the hospital to greet the children and young people, as I have already had surgery at a young age, and I had a tumor in the thyroid gland. I thought that my story could be an example to others. I want to encourage children and young people that the situation difficult to cope with,” [said Maatta].

Määttä1
Määttä1

“I was waiting for Olli throughout the day, this was such a nice thing,” says Liisa Tenhunen (pictured) Viitasaari, who met Määttä children’s section.

To cap off his time with the Cup, Maatta posed with a red nose on to raise awareness for the upcoming Red Nose Day campaign in Finland. The charity collects donations for the benefit of children in the hopes of raising the kids out of poverty by the organization’s good acts.

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After Lord Stanley’s time was done in Finland, he and his entourage journeyed to Finnish rival Sweden to split time between Carl Hagelin, Patric Hornqvist and Oskar Sundqvist.

Just a word of warning to Anaheim Ducks fans. This next section is all about Hagelin. If you’re still wincing from the trade, best to look away.

Hagelin began his day with the Cup at Södertälje Sportklubb where he played for two seasons prior to going to the University of Michigan.

This video is in Swedish, but do enjoy his entrance to ‘We Are The Champions’ at around the 21-second mark.

He then moved on to an outdoor celebration in Nykvarn with the Swedish cover band called “Sprängsten.” They took a break from their usual Springsteen covers to sing ‘The Best’ by Tina Turner when Hagelin emerged with the Cup.

Again, most of the video is in Swedish, but the music at the beginning – i.e. the Swedish cover band singing Tina Turner – isn’t.

The same fan that captured Hagelin’s party on stage also compiled pictures of Hagelin with the fans and set it to music (unfortunately not Sprängsten).

When not hanging out with the great Swedish people, Hagelin was with friends and family.

He was eager to share his win with his brother, Bobbie, a retired prohockey player in Sweden. Bobbie, four years Carl’s senior, currently works as an European scout for the Calgary Flames.

As night fell on Sweden, Hagelin and company got ready for their celebration.

In Stockholm, a familiar face showed up to the party – Patric Hornqvist. The two are neighbors in Sweden.

Didn’t have any food in the fridge so went to this guy’s house!!

A photo posted by Carl Hagelin (@62hagsofficial) on Jul 28, 2016 at 9:21am PDT

And they must have been really, really thirsty when Patric arrived.

Hornqvist’s day with the Cup was scheduled to start the following day. If Hagelin had his choice, his day would never end.

Let this be relationship advice to all you young hockey players out there. Find someone that loves you as much as Carl Hagelin loves the Stanley Cup and you’ll never be unhappy.

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Patric Hornqvist took custody of the Cup from the vice-like grip of Carl Hagelin the following day.

In Hornqvist’s hometown of Sollentuna, the family posed for what will probably be the family’s Christmas card this year. Two-year-old daughter, Isabella, joyfully took her seat atop the trophy.

Hornqvist then chauffeured a safely fastened in Stanley to Hovet Arena in Stockholm to celebrate with the people.

What?! No police escort?!

Hornqvist and Stanley safely arrived at Hovet Arena where thousands were waiting to get their opportunity to see the trophy and meet the one called, ‘Bengan.’

He stayed and met with every one who was there. Pausing each time to shake hands and accept congratulations from many who had watch him from player with Djurgården to bonafide NHL’er.

Photo: Sven Gustavsson
Photo: Sven Gustavsson

Outside of Sweden, many don’t know the story of Hornqvist’s unlike rise to the pros in North America when everything appeared set against him at first.

From ESPN.com:

Eleven years ago, the draft was not the media spectacle it is today, not only because there was no Twitter. Back in 2005, the NHL was recovering from the lockout that had swept out the entire previous season — and the original draft date along with it.

Only the top 20 prospects had been invited to the Westin Hotel in Ottawa, and it was already the next day in Sollentuna, Sweden — home of Mats Sundin — when Patric Hornqvist woke up to his father telling him that he had been drafted by the Nashville Predators.

Hornqvist had played that season in Vasby, two suburbs over from Sollentuna and two divisions removed from the top-tier Swedish league.

“I woke right up and jolted out of my bed,” he recently told ESPN.com in Swedish.

The fact that he had been the last player drafted in the entire draft — 230th overall — didn’t make him any less excited about his career possibilities.

“At least I had a real chance to make it to the NHL,” he said. “It gave me some new hope. Somebody in the Predators organization believed in me.

“Whether the chance to make it to the NHL is big or small is up to each player. I just decided to make the best of my chance.”

The door was ajar, and Hornqvist kicked it wide open.

From his draft class, only five players have scored more goals than Hornqvist’s 153. One of them is his relatively new linemate, Sidney Crosby, and another is the player the Pens traded away two years ago in return for Hornqvist and Nick Spaling: James Neal.

“That, too, happened in the middle of the night,” Hornqvist said of the trade. “My phone rang, and when I saw it was an unknown U.S. number, I realized it had been the draft weekend, and I knew something was up. It was David Poile, the Predators GM, who thanked me for my service and told me to wait for the Penguins GM to call right after.

“I could hardly speak. I was shocked and only half-awake. It’s a strange feeling to get traded, but I quickly understood that I had been traded to a great team.”

It is extremely rare to find an athlete who goes from the vaunted position of Mr. Irrelevant in the draft to Stanley Cup champion. At least, one that contributes as much as Hornqvist does and not get there by chance.

Beyond the public gathering, which was very low key compared to his Swedish compatriots, Hornqvist kept his party with the Cup private.

Well, except for one guest.

If Hornqvist is going to crash Hagelin’s party, Hagelin might as well crash Hornqvist’s.

Good thing #72 let me hang w Lord Stanley for one more day

A photo posted by Carl Hagelin (@62hagsofficial) on Aug 20, 2016 at 5:46pm PDT

Previous Chronicles of Stanley: Zatkoff takes Cup down water slide | Crosby, Cup conquer Cole Harbour | Kessel takes Cup to Toronto children’s hospital | Kessel’s grandma chugs booze from Stanley Cup | Murray’s Giant; Fehr’s slurpie; Kunitz Cup cake | Cullen meets Stanley car; Lovejoy, Sullivan go back to school | Sid’s photo album for Dupuis; fries, pasta, fro-yo and more | The kids are all right; Rust’s rainbow, nap

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Jen Neale is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter!