Chronicles of Stanley: Murray's Giant; Fehr's slurpie; Kunitz Cup cake

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.

After an epic weekend with Sidney Crosby followed by quality time with Phil Kessel and family, the Cup made its way to Thunder Bay, Ontario to visit with playoff goaltender wunderkind Matt Murray.

The journey started off a little bumpy. Murray went to the Northwest Ontario Sports Hall of Fame where he was to raise a Penguins flag.

Only one problem … there wasn’t a Penguins flag available.

Luckily, 15-year-old Zach Prenger is a huge fan and planned to attend the ceremony with his aunt who works for the city.

From TBNewsWatch.com:

When city officials were unable to locate a Penguins flag for goaltender Matt Murray to hoist over the Northwestern Ontario Sports Hall of Fame, the city put out an internal call for help.

The St. Ignatius High School student was only too happy to help out.

“It’s awesome,” said [Prenger], a budding goaltender himself, who got the call for help while at a hockey camp in Brampton, Ont.

“I’ve been a Pittsburgh Penguins fan all my life and it’s pretty cool.”

Prenger provided the flag and the ceremony took place as planned.

The following day was the busiest for Murray.

Both Crosby and Kessel took the Cup to hospitals to visit staff and patients. Murray followed suit by taking the trophy to Thunder Bay Regional Health Science Center.

Our favorite picture from Murray’s visit had to be with this future Penguins fan who had the best seat in the house.

The citizens of Thunder Bay were invited to the Intercity Shopping Centre to celebrate with Murray and get their picture with the Cup.

Before retiring to a private, friends and family only celebration, Murray took a couple pictures with the most famous natural landmark in Thunder Bay, the Sleeping Giant.

From ThunderBay.ca:

“Thunder Bay’s 50 million ton City mascot is known as the Sleeping Giant, the panoramic Sibley Peninsula, a formation of mesas and sills that juts out on Lake Superior and forms the body of water that is Thunder Bay. When viewed from the City, this remarkable peninsula resembles a reclining giant.”

Safe to say, the most famous giant on this day in Thunder Bay was the chalice Murray hoisted over his head.

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Eric Fehr’s on ice celebration with the Stanley Cup was delayed. With 10 seconds to go in the deciding Game 6, Fehr was whistled for a high-sticking penalty on Joe Pavelski. As the seconds ticked down and the Penguins began to celebrate, Fehr asked the penalty box official to open the door a little early so he could go celebrate. The request was denied.

It’s fitting then that Fehr maximized his day with the Cup in his hometown of Winkler, Manitoba by going anywhere and everywhere with the trophy.

To say it was a big deal in Winkler is an understatement. Check out the horde of people who lined up to visit with Fehr and the Cup in the Southland Mall.

Our favorite moments come courtesy of Fehr and his family.

Remember back to when Fehr was on the ice with his wife and daughter, Elizabeth, right after the Penguins won the Cup. Following tradition, the little one got a special seat inside the bowl of the Cup.

And Elizabeth wasn’t having it.

What a difference a month makes.

The littlest Fehr, sans those annoying noise cancelling headphones, took her opportunity to raise the Cup over her head with a little help from mom and dad. (Unless she’s been hitting the weight room with dad this offseason).

Winkler was going through the heatwave felt by a majority of North America this past week. Rachel Fehr took advantage of the historic drinking apparatus in her husband’s possession and cooled off with a giant slushie.

No word on how much the store charged Fehr. We’re assuming it’s free because it’s Canada and he has the Stanley Cup with him.

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Finally, Chris Kunitz is now a three time winner of the Stanley Cup. For this reason, we’re assuming he gets to set his own rules as far as when he wants to have his time with the Trophy.

Kunitz had his first day with the Cup this past week at a dinner party with family and friends in a city the Cup is very familiar with – Chicago, Illinois.

While the Cup was the guest of honor, the pièce de résistance was one of the best Stanley Cup inspired cakes in the long history of Cup themed desserts.

Lord Stanley will be reunited with Kunitz on July 26 when he goes home to Regina, Saskatchewan.

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

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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! Follow @MsJenNeale_PD.