Lars had a bucket list and a dream of seeing the Stanley Cup final. Canadian golfer Graham DeLaet had an extra ticket.
“It was almost like it was meant to be,” DeLaet said Tuesday.
The 33-year-old from Weyburn, Sask., had two tickets to Monday night’s Game 3 of the Cup final, but no-one to accompany him, so he headed down to the United Center in Chicago hoping to make someone’s night.
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DeLaet was picking up his tickets at the will call window, when he spotted Lars – DeLaet only knew his first name – standing a couple of feet away, holding a sign that read: “I NEED 1 TICKET. GET STANLEY CUP FINALS OFF MY BUCKET LIST.”
“He’d driven down from Wisconsin, it was a three-and-a-half-hour drive and his buddies all thought he was crazy and his plan was to go and wait around and hopefully somebody would give him a ticket,” DeLaet said.
“My plan was, one of my buddies was going to come down from Saskatoon, but the flight schedule didn’t work out. So I had an extra ticket and my plan was just to give (it) to someone, and make their day, and it was a perfect opportunity.”
DeLaet was scheduled to play in U.S. Open sectional qualifying Monday in Columbus, Ohio, but withdrew, citing the toll a 36-hole qualifier would take on his body. So he attended the hockey game – a 3-2 victory for Tampa Bay over Chicago – instead.
“It was neat that I was able to go to the NHL finals, the Stanley Cup finals (Monday) night and I was able to make a guy’s year almost. He was pretty excited,” DeLaet said on a conference call. “He wanted to pay me for the ticket and I told him no, you can just come as my buddy for the night. So it was pretty neat to be able to do that.”
DeLaet posted a photo of the two before they headed into the arena, writing “Stanley Cup Finals with my new bud Lars! Here we go!”
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