For the second time in eight years, Bill Ranford is bringing the Stanley Cup to the Royal City.
Ranford, the goalie coach for the Stanley Cup-winning Los Angeles Kings, gets his day with the silver chalice on Monday, Aug. 13 and he's letting everybody come and get their picture taken with the cup.
From 4 to 6 p.m. at Queen's Park Arena, anybody with a $5 minimum donation can get their picture taken with the Stanley Cup, with all proceeds going to the trampoline and hockey programs at the Royal City Alternate Program.
"I wanted the people to get a chance to see the cup," said Ranford from Los Angeles, where he's already working with Kings' goalies for the next hockey season. "And this is a chance to raise some money for causes that I believe in."
Ranford's wife Kelly teaches in the alternate program and his father-in-law, Brent Atkinson, recently retired from more than three decades as school trustee.
Atkinson said all donations of $25 or more will receive a tax receipt from the Royal City Education Foundation, so long as donors note that the money is to be directed to the alternate program's Stick it to Violence hockey program or trampoline program.
Atkinson said the hockey program has received a generous equipment donation in the past from the National Hockey League Players' Association and trampolining is also close to the Ranford family's hearts.
"My grandkids went through the Shasta (trampolining club)," said Atkinson. He said his daughter got the idea for starting up the trampolining alternate program when she saw some students practising break dancing on the street in the cold and the rain. With room in Queen's Park Arenex, Kelly thought it would be a good way for these atrisk youth to participate in a healthy activity and safer and warmer environment.
Ranford is expecting the cup to arrive in the Royal City shortly before noon on Aug. 13, after it makes its way over from Port McNeill on Vancouver Island. That's where former Vancouver Canuck Willie Mitchell is taking the cup on Aug. 12.
Ranford's family and friends will spend a little time with the cup before bringing it to Queen's Park for the family-friendly event.
Ranford will be busy all day Aug. 13 because of the strict rules concerning the Stanley Cup.
"There are rules around when the cup can be lifted and when (a drink) is poured into the cup," said Ranford. "I have to lift it and I have to do the pouring."
Ranford has won the cup three times - twice as a player with the Edmonton Oilers in 1988 and 1990 - and this is the first time he's won it while in the management ranks.
His first wins predated the time when players were given their day in the summer with the cup at the location of their choice.
But in 2004, Ranford did succeed in bringing the cup to the Royal City.
Ranford admitted he begged and pleaded to Craig Campbell, manager of the resource centre and archives for the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, to bring the cup to New Westminster as part of a larger trip.
The cup appeared at the 2004 B.C. Hockey League All-Star Game at the Coquitlam Sports Centre and then came a couple of kilometres west to Moody Park Arena.
"We had our regular Thursday night hockey. Craig brought it to Moody Park Arena," Ranford told The Record in January 2004. "We had it on the ice with us."
The cup then went to Herbert Spencer Elementary and Glenbrook Middle School, where Ranford's children were students at the time and his sister-inlaw, Kim Thomas, works as a teacher/librarian, and then to the Royal City Alternate Program, where Kelly works.
Thomas said students were "absolutely ecstatic" upon learning that the Stanley Cup would be visiting.
There will be a similar reaction on Aug. 13 when Ranford's cup adventures will be shared with a larger Royal City audience.
"This is the second time I've brought the cup back to New Westminster," said Ranford. "This is a much different situation because last time, it was more of a BCHL thing. - This time, it's about bringing the cup back to New Westminster and sharing it with all my friends and family. - It's going to be an incredible day, and one I'm really looking forward to."
www.twitter.com/ AlfieLau
