Cranbrook, B.C. — NHL defenceman Scott Niedermayer brought the Stanley Cup to his home town Saturday as a morale booster for the hundreds of fatigued firefighters who have been battling a nearby wildfire.
"They are having some pretty long days, tough days, so if this will put a smile for a minute that will be good," said Mr. Niedermayer. "That's tough work they're doing, long days, so we owe them a lot of thanks for the work that they do."
Many of the 500 tired firefighters who have been battling the blaze for almost two weeks were thrilled not only to have a chance to grip the Cup, but also to meet Mr. Niedermayer.
"I think it's great, we're pretty happy," said Tristan Powell, a B.C. Forest Service firefighter from Houston, B.C.
"It gets a little monotonous after 14 days on the fireline. We're starting to go a little crazy and it's nice that he's doing this."
The uncontrolled, uncontained Lamb Creek fire 15 kilometres southwest of Cranbrook has forced about 200 residents from their homes and gobbled up more than 100 square kilometres of forest.
For the past few days, pilots have been dropping chemical retardant on the blaze and fire crews have been busy snuffing spot fires and clearing fallen trees and power lines.
Mr. Niedermayer, a key player for New Jersey in clinching the 2003 Stanley Cup against Anaheim, said it's unsettling watching flames attack the area where he grew up.
"It's not very comforting, that's for sure," he said, as hundreds of locals lined up in a hockey arena to have a snapshot taken beside their home town hero and the Stanley Cup.
The hockey star not only feels for the firefighters, but also residents who have been evacuated from their homes.
"We knew a few people who had to evacuate from Munro Lake and apparently their houses are OK as of right now," he said.
"Your house is important but it's the family that is most important and I'm sure most people realize that as well."
It just happened to be that Mr. Niedermayer was taking the Cup to Cranbrook to share with hockey fans.
His mother asked him if he would also take it to the nearby Moyie fire camp late Saturday evening to motivate and thank the exhausted firefighters.
There are about 320 firefighters trying to snuff the blaze in surrounding forests and 150 structural firefighters who are putting sprinklers and spraying retardant on homes and lake cabins.
The Stanley Cup is on an annual summer odyssey as New Jersey players, coaches and staff take turns doing what they want with the NHL's championship trophy.
The Cup, escorted by Hockey Hall of Fame officials, was taken to Alaska by Devils centre Scott Gomez and even travelled to Greece.
Forward Brian Gionta took it to a mall in Greece, N.Y., for thousands of fans to visit last month, then put it on display in his father's hardware store, where he worked as a teenager.
Defenceman Ken Daneyko displayed "Lord Stanley" on Emeril Lagasse's TV cooking show.
Mr. Niedermayer has had another night with the Cup, when in June he and his wife got had a party with their Montclair, N.Y., neighbours.
Mr. Powell, 22, said he and most firefighters who played hockey long before they began battling blazes couldn't wait to touch the Cup.
"It's an experience that I'll never get to see again, is the Stanley Cup, so it's really lucky for me," he said.
