Turner Stevenson still looks back on the day he brought the Stanley Cup to Prince George as one of the high points of a storied hockey career.
Back on Sept. 1, 2003, Stevenson was the first P.G.-bred Cup-winner to bring the trophy home to the Spruce City - his old stomping grounds - and give the people who helped get him to the NHL a chance to share it with him.
On Monday at noon at CN Centre, Washington Capitals winger Brett Connolly, the second NHL player on that exclusive list, will have his own hometown Stanley Cup celebration.
"Brett is obviously bringing it home and I made sure to text him a couple days after they were all done to congratulate him and I heard that he was bringing it there," said Stevenson.
"That's good stuff to bring it back to the community where we're from, especially a town like that. It's such a great hockey town, it really is, it's one of the few that has two junior teams and supports them really well."
It was a bright, sunny warm day when Stevenson paraded the Cup in the back of a convertible following Fourth Avenue and then George Street to City Hall, where he was mobbed by a crowd estimated at 4,000. He was the last of the New Jersey Devils players to have his day with the Cup.
"They said if I was patient and I was last I could have it for two days and I wanted it for two days so I could also bring it to Seattle for my wife's family," said Stevenson.
"There was a lot of people (in Prince George) and it was a lot of fun. The cool thing for me was seeing people's reaction, especially friends and family that all helped along the way. We only get it for such a short period of time.
"You see people brought to tears when they see it for the first time, and then they get to hold it. That's the best part of being to provide that emotion and that experience for somebody. What's scary is it's already been 15 years, time goes by so fast."
Stevenson came close to winning his first NHL championship in 2002, his second season with the Devils, after being traded by the Columbus Blue Jackets, who briefly acquired the right winger's rights in the 2000 expansion draft from the Montreal Canadiens. But the Devils lost Game 7 of the final in Denver to the Colorado Avalanche.
During his Cup run the following season, Stevenson hurt his groin in the second-round against Tampa. He played three games of the Eastern Conference championship against Ottawa but had to sit out the first four games of the final. Painkiller injections allowed him to finish the series but in Game 7 in New Jersey he tweaked his groin again and had to had to sit on the bench for the last couple shifts as the Devils capped off a 3-0 victory. Stevenson's parents Dave and Diane, his wife and their kids were there to watching and it touched off a sweet celebration.
"It went on all week, I saw the sun come up five days in a row," he said.
Stevenson's NHL career with Montreal, New Jersey and Philadelphia spanned 13 seasons from 1992-2006. He played 644 regular-season games and totaled 75 goals and 190 points and also had six goals and 15 points in 67 playoff games.
Stevenson was born in Mackenzie and when he was 14 he moved to Prince George, where his family was from.
He played his final two season of minor hockey in P.G, and went on to a four-season junior career in the WHL for the Seattle Thunderbirds and he was a T-birds assistant coach from 2007-11.
He now lives in Snohomish, Wash., with his wife Kim and their sons Branden, 20, Jakob, 17, and Wyatt, 15. Turner is head coach of the Everett Junior Silvertips U18 and U-16 teams and Wyatt, 15, plays for U15 team.
They will be in Prince George to play the Cariboo Cougars major midget and minor midget teams in a four-game series
Aug. 30 to Sept. 2
Two other Cup-winners will be watching Monday when Connolly brings Stanley to the party - Cougars head coach Richard Matvichuk, who won it as a defenceman for the Dallas Stars in 1999, and Cats GM Mark Lamb, who played centre for the 1990 Cup-champion Edmonton Oilers. Lamb centred Stevenson's line the first two seasons he played for the Habs.
"When you win and it's all done and the year's over, that's a feeling you get to carry the rest of your life," said Stevenson.
"Brett has that same feeling as a champion and once you get your name on it, that's a cool part. When he sees it later this summer it'll be engraved with their team on it and that's the best part of it. It's nice to have a Stanley Cup ring but it's rare I even take it out anymore. I've seen (the Cup) six or seven times since I retired and when you see your name on it it's quite remarkable."
Stevenson has a stencil imprint of his engraved name on the Cup hanging in a frame at his home.
The Connolly celebration starts at noon on Monday. Kids who wear their minor hockey jerseys will get preferred seating in a special section at the front of the CN Centre stage. From 12:30-2 p.m., people can line up to have a photo taken with Connolly and the Stanley Cup on the CN Centre stage.
A silent auction and raffle of hockey memorabilia autographed by Connolly and the Capitals will be open to the public starting at 9 a.m. on Monday at the main entrance to CN Centre.
There are still opportunities for fans to win a VIP experience for two with Connolly before the public presentation. Tickets for that are on sale at the TicketsNorth box office or Cougars office at CN Centre with a suggested minimum of $5 each.
All proceeds from the raffle and auctions will go to the Brock Hirsche Memorial Scholarship Fund at the University of Lethbridge. Hirsche, who died of cancer in April, played with Connolly for the Cougars.
