Stanley Cup's trip to Sweden starts with christening
Record seven Swedish players to bring the trophy home
Last Updated: Friday, July 25, 2008 | 4:26 PM ET
CBC Sports
Forward Tomas Holmstrom was the first of seven Swedish players with the Detroit Red Wings to bring the Stanley Cup home for a day. (Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press)The Stanley Cup has made its share of interesting off-season appearances, but Tomas Holmstrom of the Detroit Red Wings may have added a truly unique chapter to the trophy's storied history.
Each member of the championship-winning club gets the trophy for a day, and Holmstrom decided to let his cousin use it as a baptismal font for a christening.
It was at the suggestion of the Red Wings forward that Robert Sundstrom decided to incorporate the Stanley Cup into the baptism of his seven-week-old daughter Alva Felicia, during a ceremony outside Holmstrom's hometown of Pitea in northern Sweden.
"Tomas came up with the idea when we were sitting in his summer cabin kitchen a week ago," Sundstrom said. "Me and my wife thought it would be fun to christen our daughter in such a priceless object."
While the ceremony was private, it did include two American security guards who are traveling with the championship trophy as it travels throughout Sweden.
And with six other members of the Red Wings calling Sweden home, the Stanley Cup will be logging a lot of miles across the Nordic country.
Six-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom, who became the first European captain to win the Stanley Cup last season, will be the next player to get it for a day in his hometown of Vasteras.
After that Henrik Zetterberg, Mikael Samuelsson, Andreas Lilja, Johan Franzen and Niklas Kronwall will also get their day with the massive silver trophy in their own hometowns.
It's the first time as many as seven players from the same country outside North America will get the opportunity to spend a day with the Stanley Cup.
The Red Wings defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games in the Stanley Cup final to capture their fourth championship in 11 seasons.
With files from the Associated Press
