BUFFALO, N.Y. — Friday was a special day for former Buffalo Sabres captain Kyle Okposo. The St. Paul native brought the Stanley Cup back to the Twin Cities.
"Special Day for Kyle Okposo and his family. The @FlaPanthers #stanleycup champion brings the trophy home," Philip Pritchard, the Hockey Hall of Fame's official Keeper of the Cup, posted to social media.
For the rest of the summer, players, coaches, and staff from the Florida Panthers will all get their chance to spend an entire day with the Stanley Cup.
Okposo (with the Sabres from 2016 to 2024) is one of five former Sabres players whose name is now engraved on the NHL's championship trophy. The others are Sam Reinhart (2014-21), Evan Rodrigues (2015-20), Brandon Montour (2018-19, 2019-21), and Dmitry Kulikov (2016-17).
Rick Dudley, a senior advisor for the Panthers, also has his name on the cup. He played a total of six seasons with the Sabres in the 1970s and '80s and coached the team from 1989 to 1992.
In fact, Dudley will be bringing the Stanley Cup to Lewiston on Tuesday.
"Our friend Rick Dudley will be bringing the Stanley Cup here to the Griffon Brewery & Gastropub in Lewiston next Tuesday July 23rd at 5 p.m. for a few hours. If you'd like a photo with the cup, we'll have a photographer on site taking photos of guests, which we'll post to our website later that evening for you to retrieve," the brewery said on social media.
"We're so excited for this holy grail of hockey to pay us a visit."
