How cool would this have been to be at that bar...oh the pictures I could have. Here is the article.
It's a long way from Peace River, Alberta -- Chris Osgood's hometown. The beloved Red Wing goaltender, however, wanted to share his third Stanley Cup with his neighbors from his adopted hometown of Plymouth.
Wearing a long-sleeved No. 15 Brandon Inge dark blue T-shirt, Osgood did just that late Tuesday night at Sean O'Callaghan's, located in downtown Plymouth.
Word spread quickly on the street that the Cup and Osgood were inside the Irish pub. Lines formed outside 821 Penniman Avenue to get a glimpse of North America's oldest professional sports trophy, which is made of silver and nickel alloy.
And once you gained entrance inside O'Callaghan's, it was pure bedlam.
"Oh, my God, I just drank out of the Stanley Cup,'' said one female patron as she exited the bar.
While patrons poured their alcoholic beverages into the Cup for a chance at a celebratory swig, Osgood patiently accommodated, hunched over and standing on top of the bar, while pouring the bulky 34-pound trophy. Osgood certainly worked up a sweat, sipping on water as he took mini-breaks before being summoned for another round of pouring.
Random chants of "Ozzie, Ozzie'' rang throughout the establishment as cameras and picture phones popped and flashed at a machine-gun rate.
"He was here for about three and a half hours,'' said O'Callaghan's manager Eric Brooks. "He comes in here from time to time. He went with the Cup from one side of the bar to the other. It's a lot of work and he did a great job.''
The NHL also had a non-uniformed security staffer on hand to help chaperone the event.
"We called him the 'Cup Cop,' '' Brooks said. "Obviously, our staff knew he was coming. We did get a few phone calls during the day, so some people knew about it. Everybody was well-behaved. We had extra staff on hand and everybody worked hard to keep some semblance of order.''
This, of course, was nothing new for the 35-year-old goaltender, who has played 13 NHL seasons.
It was his third Stanley Cup as a member of the Wings and probably the most gratifying after he came on to replace starter Dominik Hasek during the opening-round playoff series against the Nashville Predators and lift Detroit to its fourth championship in 11 years.
<message edited by The_Michigan_Man on Monday, June 30, 2008 9:03 AM>