Mikko Rantanen drank from a shoe. So did Artturi Lehkonen. At least they Finnished what they started.
But the MVPs of the Avalanche’s Stanley Cup celebration parade Thursday, hands down, were the fans who kept defenseman Bo Byram out of the penalty box.
In a moment that went viral on social media not long after the streets had cleared, Byram, the Avs’ 21-year-old defenseman, had jumped down from his fire truck to greet the people. He also happened to be rocking two cans of Coors Light for the trip.
Here’s the catch: When Byram tried to return to his chariot, an officer of the law who was flanking the parade route on a bike advised the baby-faced d-man to get back behind the gates. Said cop then gently pushed him toward the civilians he was assumed to have escaped from.
The only credential Byram had on-hand was the name on the back of the jersey, which he promptly turned to the officer in question.
“I play for the team,” Byram explained. (Because, ya know, he does.)
“He’s a playerrrrrrr!” a fan shouted.
“He’s a playerrrrrrr!” screamed another.
Identity confirmed, lesson learned, Byram was allowed to rejoin his mates.
At least we can laugh about it now. Right?
“It feels soooooo good,” Jared Buck, an Avalanche fan from Highlands Ranch, offered after the parade passed. “I mean, I never thought I’d see the day. We’re diehard Rockies fans.”
Our sympathies.
“Yeah, exactly. It’s never gonna happen (in the NL West). So being a part of a championship? It’s just incredible.”
Buck and his family came dressed for the occasion, complete with a replica, cardboard life-size replica of Lord Stanley’s Cup, a labor of love for Jared and his two sons, Oliver and Thomas.
Dad had started on it right after the Avs swept Edmonton in the Western Conference Finals. He had a feeling. Based on the last six months, never mind the last six weeks, who wouldn’t?
“But they wouldn’t let me finish it,” he continued, “until the Cup was won.”
They?
“The boys there. The boys didn’t want to jinx it.”
Five bits of cardboard. One 19-ounce can of spray paint. One roll of duct tape. One old salad bowl. A lifetime of memories.
5 bits of cardboard. One can of spray paint. One roll of duct tape. One old salad bowl. A lifetime of memories. #GoAvsGo #FindAWay #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/lHE5ZZ22PE
— Sean Keeler (@SeanKeeler) June 30, 2022
Jared said he’d laid the cardboard out and stacked it up like a birthday cake, just waiting for the ‘Go’ sign.
“When the last seconds went off the clock (in Tampa on Sunday),” Dad recalled, “the (boys) said, ‘Now we can paint it.’”
First coat Monday. Second coat Wednesday for good measure. Also, because the duct tape holding the magic together was green, originally.
A Denver native, Buck was one the thousands at the first Avs’ Cup parade back in 1996. In 2001, he was on a mission in South America during the second celebration. His mom sent him a videotape — ask your parents, kids — of the television broadcast so he would watch, later, thanks to the services of a South American VCR.
“It was legendary,” Buck said of partying like it was 1996, all those years back. “But I didn’t appreciate it at the time.”
This one? This one, emotionally, hit like Darren Helm. Straight into the boards.
“I want my kids to be 13 and 8 when we get the next (parade),” Buck said. “Fourteen and nine at the latest.
“(The Avs) mainly have got a young team. Most of them are under contract. The core is young. I mean, yeah, we should have another one before too long.”
Young Tony Capone was there in ’96, too. He says his parents took him out of school to watch the first Avs victory parade in person. Of course, he was also 5 at the time. It didn’t register.
“I’m 31 now,” Capone said. “So this is the one, because I can really bond with the players. I’ve been watching them for 10-plus years. I got to see this team get developed. And (Thursday) is like the best thing.”
He’s had season tickets for the last four seasons, savoring every stage of a franchise’s climb to the apex, the slog to the top of the NHL’s mountain.
“No words to describe it,” Capone said as watched the insanity of Cup Parade Day from the comfort of a sixth-floor balcony on West Colfax Avenue, a Lehkonen pass from Civic Center Park. “I mean, when we saw the Stanley Cup go by, we literally had chills.”
Capone had his own, of course, just to be on the safe side. She was a homemade beauty, one that from street level, looking up, seemed to glisten against what was left of the midday sun.
Upon closer examination, the thing was a circular Frankenstein of Coors Light cans, packing tape and hot glue. With a metal serving bowl — a wedding gift to Tony and wife, Brittany — strapped to the top.
“During the playoffs, we only saved our beers from the wins,” Tony explained proudly.
“Right before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals, we built this … pretty sure it was hot glue on the beers.
“But we broke it (Thursday). We had to tape it because we dented the (expletive) out of it.”
What happened?
“We didn’t mean to,” Capone replied. Then he grinned. “We were trying to drink out of it.”
Hey, better that than a shoe.
