Charlotte Checkers fans say seeing Stanley Cup, and its keeper, is ‘a dream come true’
His daughter tugged on his left hand. His nephew sat quietly and contently on his shoulders. His wife waited patiently in line.
As for Scott Wilson himself? He had a massive smile on his face and a mission on his mind:
To find his name on the Stanley Cup.
“I gotta look real quick,” Wilson said Saturday over the excitement in Bojangles Coliseum. He and his family have been season-ticket holders with the Charlotte Checkers since 2005, and thus got a chance this weekend to get an up-close look at the Stanley Cup, won last season by the Checkers’ NHL affiliate Florida Panthers.
Wilson himself wasn’t on an NHL championship team, to be clear. But one of the Rock Hill firefighter’s favorite players — who shares the name “Scott Wilson” with him — was with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2016-17 season.
So his name technically is there. He’s just gotta find it.
But just being near the Cup at all, he said, is special.
“This is a dream come true,” he said.
The Charlotte Checkers hosted an event for season-ticket holders and other invited guests Saturday to get a photo with the Stanley Cup, which many in the Bojangles Coliseum this weekend referred to as “the best trophy in sports.” Hundreds filed through to not only see the Cup — and not only to be early for the Checkers’ 4 p.m. start time — but to scour the Cup’s rings for their favorite players. Many of those included those who played with the American Hockey League’s Charlotte Checkers before they were called up by the Florida Panthers and won the ultimate prize in June.
Among the hundreds in the venue off East Independence Boulevard on Saturday included perhaps one of the most famous men in hockey, too:
Phil Pritchard — the Keeper of the Stanley Cup.
The man, in other words, who goes wherever the Cup goes.
“Charlotte’s a great hockey town,” Pritchard told The Charlotte Observer when he had a free moment before being asked to pose with the trophy with the throngs of hockey fans who wanted to take a photo with him. “To be here, and five hours before the game there’s a lineup like this, that really shows the hockey passion that Charlotte has as a community. And what (chief operating officer) Tera Black and her team has put together today for everybody is pretty special. It’s like an early Christmas gift for the season-ticket holders.”
And yes, hockey fans: I asked if he had the white gloves on him — something the job demands as he and his colleague, Mario Della-Savia, handle hockey artifacts as a vocation. Pritchard responded without a word; instead, he pulled his two gloves from his left pocket and shot me a look that said: Of course, who do you think I am?
“The great thing about hockey fans, they are very loyal to the game,” Pritchard said. “It doesn’t matter what team they’re supporting or affiliated with — they love the game of hockey. And you talk to some of the season-ticket members here, and they’ve been members for a long time. And they’ve seen the Checkers grow over the years. They’ve had a Calder Cup team (in 2019). And now to be affiliated with a Stanley Cup champion, and have the Cup come for them, that’s a huge feather in their cap.”
He added: “You can see by all the smiles. It’s a pretty good day to be a hockey fan in Charlotte.”
You won’t hear any argument from Tera Black, the aforementioned COO of the Checkers. The executive wore a bulky ring on her right hand — a championship ring gifted to her and Checkers ownership partner Michael Kahn — and said the Checkers’ relationship with the Panthers couldn’t be better: “They’re just a phenomenally classy organization.”
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Does it feel like the Checkers won a championship as well?
“1,000%,” Black told The Observer. “Our whole team, the hockey staff, all of the trainers, the coaches. Obviously we’re all pulling on the same side of the rope for the one common goal, which is to bring home a Stanley Cup. And it’s so incredibly special because of the fact that we’re two non-traditional markets. We have a Calder Cup; they have a Stanley Cup. It just goes to show how powerful our fan base is.”
She added: “If you’re a fan of hockey, the Cup is for you. It’s legendary. It’s the best trophy in sports. … And to see players who were here on the trophy is like, ‘This is why we do it.’”
There are three Stanley Cups, technically, in the world. One is known as the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, or the original bowl. It’s on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. Another is the “Presentation Cup,” which is the one awarded to championship teams. And then there is a replica of the Presentation Cup — “the Permanent Cup” — that goes on display in the Hall of Fame when the Presentation Cup is traveling.
As it was Saturday.
In Charlotte.
Where hockey fandom was on display for all to see.
“Anyone who’s into hockey in this state, in this city, if they heard about this they wanted to come to this,” said Kevin Weitner, another Charlotte Checkers superfan — who’s also a staple at Hornets and Panthers and Charlotte FC events. “I wish people could see this. Because I’ve always been a big proponent that North Carolina is becoming a better hockey state. Everyone always likes to talk about the Midwest and Minnesota and the northeast. But since the Canes came down here, man, the hockey following has just grown so much.
“And the Checkers having the playoff success that they’ve had recently helps contribute to that. I love it. I love seeing this much support for hockey down here.”
This story was originally published December 23, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
