It was picture perfect, recalls Joe Stasiuk, a member of the unlikely Cayman Islands ice hockey team. The snow was coming down in huge, wet flakes while the early evening Toronto rush hour traffic snaked by one of the city’s oldest bank buildings. A line of invited guests waited to be admitted to the bank’s Great Hall to view some of the world’s greatest treasures and to be part of history this past Monday, February 6th.
The treasure inside is not money, nor gold, nor diamonds – it is something much more valuable than those three combined. It is Lord Stanley of Preston’s Cup (a.k.a. The Stanley Cup) annually awarded to the championship team of the National Hockey League. Its mammoth polished silver body and unique shape make it easily recognizable and one of the most beautiful championship trophies in the world. In any case, it is unquestionably the oldest trophy competed for by professional athletes in the world. The other secondary but equally magnificent treasures in the Great Hall are the individual awards for NHL players, and include the Art Ross Trophy for Most Valuable Player, the Conn Smythe Trophy for Playoff MVP, among many others.
It was against the backdrop of this revered hardware and the illuminated mural of names of the greatest players in hockey who have been inducted into the Hall of Fame that the stage was set. In the audience were sports and travel media, travel industry supporters, and fans that had flown in especially for the event, including supporters from the Cayman Islands, Buffalo, Sault Ste. Marie and Plaster Rock, home of the World Pond Hockey Championships. Also in attendance was Mark Napier, Executive Director of the NHL Alumni Association and a two-time Stanley Cup winner with the Montréal Canadiens (1979) and Edmonton Oilers (1985).
Enter (stage left) James Duthie, sports anchor of TSN (Total Sports Network), Canada’s leading sports cable network, and Master of Ceremonies for the evening. Enter (stage right) Craig Campbell, Manager of Archives of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Enter (center stage) Marty ‘Freight Train’ Goschl, Norm Klein, Captain Bill Messer, and Joe Stasiuk of the Cayman Breakaway.
Opening the evening’s event hosted by the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism, James Duthie recounted his growing relationship with the Breakaway that started one year earlier in Plaster Rock at the 2005 World Pond Hockey Championships. TSN aired a special entitled ‘Hockey Lives Here’, a 12-hour day of hockey activities Canada-wide and hosted from Plaster Rock. While there, Duthie became fast friends with the Breakaway. ‘I am amazed at the amount of recognition that the Cayman Breakaway has received and continue to garner, but it reflects their incredible passion for the game,’ said Duthie in his remarks. ‘This is a great hockey story simply because they have proved that this game can be loved and nurtured in any environment.’
Earl Smith, Director for the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism (Canada), noted the growing support for sports tourism by the Cayman Islands and the wide-range of sports practiced and played there every day, while congratulating the Breakaway for their momentous achievement.
But it was precisely at 6:25PM that history was made as the Cayman Breakaway hockey sweater was formally turned over to Craig Campbell for display in the Hockey Hall of Fame. The Breakaway sweater now joins the elite of the hockey world and a place forever in hockey history.
Immediately afterwards, Captain Messer took time to thank all of those in attendance and the sponsors of the Breakaway, including Cayman Airways, Tortuga Rum, SPEEDO, and the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism. Messer also presented both Duthie and Campbell with gifts from the Tortuga Rum Company.
Commenting on the event, Breakaway Captain Bill Messer said ‘We knew that this was going to be a special evening, but until you actually find yourself in the hallowed Hall surrounded by the trophies and the names of the inductees, you never appreciate the enormity of the occasion.’
Before the evening ended, Duthie announced that the Cayman Breakaway and NHL Alumni Association have reached an agreement in principal to stage an exhibition ice hockey game in June/July against some very popular NHL Alumni in the Cayman Islands. More information will be released in the coming weeks as the details are firmed-up.
After the reception, and as the Breakaway team members were preparing to leave, they watched as Craig Campbell left the reception and returned to the Hall with the Breakaway sweater. While the time for the Breakaway at the ceremony and reception in the Great Hall had lasted only a few hours, the Breakaway sweater and name of the Cayman Islands will now live-on forever.
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