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Stanley Cup sighting in Lester Beach thrills cottagers

Two special visitors surprised cottagers and beach-goers in Lester Beach, Man., on Friday — Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Duncan Keith and none other than the Stanley Cup.

Keith, who was born in Winnipeg, showed off the NHL's top prize during an afternoon visit to the community, located about 100 kilometres northeast of the city along the southern shore of Lake Winnipeg.

About 100 people gathered to cheer and snap pictures as Keith hoisted the championship trophy over his head.

"All of us were gathered at the beach, right at the beach, at a driveway of one of the cottages, and Duncan drove up in a convertible with the cup," cottager Bill Shead told Trevor Dineen of CBC's Up to Speed program.

"He got out of the convertible and he came down to the beach — I guess it's probably 50 metres or something like that — and as he was approaching the beach he lifted the cup above his head and, of course, there was a big cheer from the crowd."

Keith was joined by his parents and his son, said Shead, who noted that the NHLer's family has a long history in the area.

"The Keith clan has had cottages here at Lester Beach for decades," he said.

"Duncan had spent a fair amount of time here as a youngster growing up; in fact, I remember him as a youngster here in the summer months."

Shead said it was very generous of Keith to share the Stanley Cup "with some of his old friends and some of the younger people" in the area.

"He didn't have to do it, but in the first time in history, the cup has been here at Lester Beach!"

It's not the first time Lord Stanley's mug has visited Manitoba this month. Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews visited Winnipeg with the Stanley Cup in mid-July.

Toews even allowed a couple to put their newborn son in the Stanley Cup for a photograph.