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| Last updated at 11:54 AM on 20/06/08 |
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Danny Cleary (left) poses for a photo with fellow Newfound-lander Bob Cole, the play-by-play announcer for Hockey Night in Canada on CBC. Submitted photo |
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'Lifting the cup was just awesome' 
Cleary will never forget the moment he made hockey history
BOB WHITE
Transcontinental Community Newspapers
For a few seconds, everything stopped and time just stood still for Danny Cleary.
In the dying seconds of the Stanley Cup-clinching game six, the Riverhead, Harbour Grace native son was stunned, wound-up so tight and so focused on keeping the puck out of the net.
It was uncharted territory for him and for the hundreds of thousands of fans back home and across the country. A dream he had dreamed for so long, finally becoming reality.
He watched the puck drift ever so close to crossing the goal line. He looked at Chris Osgood, saw the blue light come on to signal the end of the game.
Stanley Cup Champions!
As if there was any way of following an act like that, Cleary didn't know what to do next.
"For me, it was definitely a delayed reaction," Cleary told The Compass last Friday, the same day over a million Detroit fans lined the streets of Mowtown to welcome home the Stanley Cup champions from Pittsburgh.
"I was kinda lost there for a second."
He's lost no more. The 29-year-old NHLer carved his name indelibly into the history books of hockey and this province as the first player from Newfoundland and Labrador who will have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup.
It was one of those momentous events that people will remember where they were when Cleary captured the Cup.
He was third to hoist the Cup, which first went to captain Niklas Lidstrom, first European to ever captain an NHL championship team, and then to 16-year veteran and first-time Cup winner Dallas Drake, who passed it on to Cleary.
"I wasn't expecting to get it (the Cup) that soon," he said. "It showed me how much the guys respect me and how they understood how huge this was for me. I love these guys, each and every one of them are friends. Now, we've got a bond for life, one that will never be broken."
And just what was it like to finally raise the famous and coveted 35-pound piece of silverware?
"Lifting the Cup was just awesome. Growing up, you always watched the celebrations and guys holding it up high and the sheer joy on their faces. To do it yourself, it was all that and more. Hard to describe, but it felt awesome."
A few minutes later, after the obligatory team photo was snapped, Cleary was part of a touching moment that hockey fans everywhere were treated to on international television. Tears of joy rushed over him when his wife Jelena and daughter Elle met him on the ice.
"I told myself I wasn't going to get emotional like that, but a great big wave just came over me and nothing was going to stop it," Cleary said. "They are everything to me and I wouldn't have been able to do what I just did without them supporting me."
Support and sacrifice are among those intangible things that make things happen. Cleary's road to reaching his newfound status as Stanley Cup champion came after much support and sacrifice, from Cleary himself, his family and friends.
"I know who has supported me throughout it all and I don't forget that. It means everything to me. I believe I've come full circle in my career."
Leaving home at 14 years of age, Cleary began a 15-year journey that has been filled with so many memories, challenges, highs and lows, that it is little wonder Cleary's story has been one the national and international media has latched onto with a vengeance. It's a feel-good story that has captured the attention of an entire province and beyond, making Cleary a household name in his native province and on the mainland of Canada.
And it is because of that interest, more like a frenzy, that Cleary's time with the Cup (each player is entitled to one day with the venerable mug) will be a unique experience that will certainly venture into uncharted territory.
"I'm really proud of being the first from Newfoundland to bring it back. And to do it when just three years ago I went to Detroit on a tryout, it's unbelievable. I want the kids back home to understand that if a kid from Riverhead can do it, they can do anything, too."
Now the man from Riverhead knows he won't be able to do what most of his Detroit teammates will be able to do when they get the Cup.
"Most of the guys will be able to get their family and friends over to their house and have a decent-sized party."
Not Cleary, but that's alright. He's in the mood for sharing it with as many as possible. Good thing, because everything points to this being a celebration for the ages. When "this" will happen is not yet clear, although it is expected sometime this summer. And Cleary's hometown is getting ready for the big day.
"I spoke with (Detroit general manager) Ken Holland and he understands how big this is. He's aware of how the whole province has been following this."
It's likely Cleary will get more than a day with Lord Stanley and he can't wait to bring it all the way back to 'The River.' He's thinking he'll get his trip with Stanley sometime before, or after, the Swedish Seven have had their time to share it with their native hometowns in Sweden.
"The day I find out, a party will be planned and the whole province is invited. I feel like I owe it to Newfoundland and Labrador to bring it home and share it with everyone. I felt the support and I'll never forget it."
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17/06/08
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