The Stanley Cup was in Fredericton on Thursday, and the city rolled out the red carpet for its born-and-raised hockey superstar Jake Allen, who brought the cup home with him.
Allen, the longtime goaltender of the St. Louis Blues, is set to arrive in town Thursday afternoon.
The Blues won their first-ever Stanley Cup earlier this year, beating the Boston Bruins in Game 7.
READ MORE: St. Louis Blues superfan hoping the Stanley Cup will make its way to Fredericton
By Thursday morning, the line to meet Allen was growing quickly, with fans prepared to see their hero rain or shine.
Allen was drafted by the Blues in 2008. But this season, he played backup to rookie goalie Jordan Binnington.
The Blues went on an incredible run to capture the cup — the first in the franchise’s 52-year history — after being dead last in the league in January.
Much like his season on the ice, Allen’s day with the Stanley Cup didn’t go quite as planned.
The cup, hockey’s holy grail, is handed to each player on the winning team for one day. But a flight delay meant Allen’s time was cut short on Thursday.
“I’m hoping that a lot of these kids and families and supporters that I have get a chance to see the cup,” he said.
“Just to bring it here and say thanks. Its more or less a thank you to the community what they do for me and what I can do for them.”
WATCH: The St. Louis Blues win the Stanely Cup
Seeing the crowd of children cheering him on reminded Allen of his youth.
“That’s a dream come true. When I first started playing hockey at 5 that’s what you did, you would raise the Stanley cup playing hockey outside, ball hockey and pond hockey and that’s the dream and to be able to actually have it happen is pretty amazing.”
There was no shortage of fans prepared to meet Allen at the event and all of them were excited to meet their hero.
Allen said that the Stanley Cup rarely makes its way to New Brunswick, so he hoped to give children hope.
“Maybe one time when I’m done I can see a some of these kids hoist it,” he said.
McKenzie Dorcas showed up at 8 a.m., to be first in line to meet his Fredericton-raised hockey hero.
“I was actually looking forward to it all week, and now I woke up this morning and I’m glad to be here,” said Dorcas.
Allen says he plans to spend the rest of the summer in Fredericton playing golf and relaxing until the next season starts.
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