Lord Stanley in Afghanistan
March 19th, 2008 by murph
The Stanley Cup is visiting Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan this week.
A group of NHL hockey heroes arrived Wednesday in Afghanistan to give Canadian soldiers a battle of a different sort.
Skating stalwarts like Mark Napier, Chris Nilan and Bob Probert touched down in Kandahar - some of them for the second time in less than a year - in hopes of boosting military morale.
Also on the ground at Kandahar Airfield were country-rock crooners Blue Rodeo, Montreal rocker Jonas Tomalty and Gen. Rick Hillier, Canada’s chief of defence staff.
But the true guest of honour, making its second appearance in Afghanistan, was hockey’s Holy Grail - the Stanley Cup.
“For Canadians, I mean, this symbolizes something that every young boy or girl grows up dreaming about - playing for the Stanley Cup,” said Defence Minister Peter MacKay, whose departure after a top-secret three-day visit to Afghanistan coincided with the team’s arrival.
“The soldiers on the base - there’s probably a few of them who didn’t sleep last night in anticipation of getting to play against some of their heroes, getting to see the Stanley Cup - it’s just a huge morale boost.”
