This Canadian city is planning its sixth Stanley Cup parade since 2007. It has no NHL team

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5 days ago

No Canadian NHL team has won a Stanley Cup in 32 years, meaning no Canadian NHL city has hosted a Stanley Cup parade for its hometown team in more than three decades.
But one Canadian city, too small to host an NHL team, is in early discussions for what could be its remarkable sixth Stanley Cup parade since 2007.
Halifax has produced some of the most exciting — and successful — hockey players of our time. And with them has come a tradition of bringing the Cup to their NHL-less hometown for parades that can draw tens of thousands of people.
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby brought the coveted National Hockey League trophy back to his hometown of Cole Harbour, a suburb of Halifax, and toured it around the city, in 2009. He then repeated it in 2016, and again in 2017.
'All three of his parades were unbelievable,' Phil Pritchard, the 'Keeper of the Cup' and legendary Hockey Hall of Fame curator, said in a recent interview.
'Most guys don't really have parades and things like that. They have little town celebrations or community things. But Halifax went all-in.'
An estimated 25,000 people attended Crosby's first hometown parade in 2009, with fans reportedly lining up 10 deep in some places to cheer on their hockey hero.
A similar parade route for Crosby in 2016 drew about 30,000 people. And when Sid the Kid was the marshal for the city's 2017 Natal Day parade, that number reportedly doubled.
'What I found amazing about it was the people who came out in support, not just to watch the parade, but volunteered, that helped with security, that just helped out,' Pritchard said.
Thousands of people also showed up for Nathan MacKinnon's 2022 parade in Halifax when he won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche, which Pritchard dubbed 'equally as amazing' as the Crosby celebrations.
'Not to take anything away from Sidney or Nathan, but maybe it's the people of Halifax – they're hockey crazy,' Pritchard said. 'And they've got two of the best players in the world playing, so maybe it all falls in together.'
Pritchard's quick to point out that Joe DiPenta was the first hockey player to bring the Stanley Cup back to his hometown of Cole Harbour in 2007, as a member of the Anaheim Ducks. But his celebrations and parade were 'a lot smaller,' Pritchard said.
Official Stanley Cup parades have been going on for more than a century. The first one the Hockey Hall of Fame could confirm marched down Winnipeg's Main Street after the Winnipeg Victorias won the Cup in 1896, three years after it was first awarded.
For the past 30 years, players on Cup-winning teams each get at least a day with the storied trophy, to do with it as they please.
This year's Cup champion, the Florida Panthers, has 100 days with the Stanley Cup, from the night they won it, June 17, until the NHL's opening night in early October.
One of the breakout stars of this year's Panthers is Halifax's Brad Marchand. He won the Cup in 2011 with the Boston Bruins, but chose to celebrate with smaller events at Halifax City Hall and a visit to the local children's hospital.
'He didn't have a parade,' Pritchard said. 'Not a lot of them do actual parades. The community has to get that going and Halifax has been great at it.'
The 37-year-old right winger, who hails from the Halifax suburb of Hammonds Plains, deserves a parade, according to Jason Wilson, who teaches a course about hockey in Canadian history at the University of Guelph.
'Marchand has proven himself to hockey fans everywhere. He has even convinced long-suffering Leafs fans like myself that he's the real deal,' said Wilson, co-author of Lord Stanley: The Man Behind the Cup.
'His commitment to focusing on the game and shredding — though perhaps not altogether — his sometimes-bizarre non-hockey play on the ice, is a declaration of maturity. When you consider the Four Nations Cup and this past Stanley Cup playoffs, I think there's an argument to be made that he has to be included among the top five most impactful players of 2025. An impact that surely has the good people of Hammonds Plains, N.S., planning a parade route for their ice warrior.'
Marchand scored six goals in five games for the Panthers during the 2025 Stanley Cup Final, including game-winning goals in both of their road wins, to help Florida take their second straight championship against the Edmonton Oilers.
'Brad doesn't have a date picked yet' for his personal day with the Stanley Cup, Pritchard said.
That begs the question: should Halifax throw Marchand a parade?
'It takes more than one guy to have the parade,' Pritchard said, 'the community's got to get behind it.'
Halifax Mayor Andy Fillmore sounds keen on hosting a Marchand parade.
'Brad Marchand is a hometown legend and now a two-time Stanley Cup champion and Halifax couldn't be prouder,' Fillmore said in an email.
'As mayor of Halifax, I'd love to welcome Brad home to celebrate this incredible win, with the Cup, of course. We're in early discussions at the city about how to help make that happen. It's entirely up to him, but if he's game, we'd be thrilled to host him here in Halifax this summer.'
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