A grinning Jordan Binnington hoisted the Stanley Cup for screaming fans in his hometown of Richmond Hill on Friday morning.
The 26-year-old goaltender helped the St. Louis Blues capture their first-ever NHL championship title last month after defeating the Boston Bruins.
Riding in an open convertible, Binnington showed off the iconic trophy to fans at Richmond Green Park.
His message to fans, “life is tough and a lot of times the tough way is the way and it’ll work out in the end, I promise.”
“This feels really good and having you guys (the fans) out here is really special to me.”
Richmond Hill Mayor Dave Barrow congratulated Binnington on the big win and presented him with the key to the city.
Barrow reminded the crowd Binnington is “the first rookie goaltender to win 16 games in the post season… and that ended a 52-year wait for St. Louis to win their first Stanley Cup in history.”
Many in the crowd were young NHL hopefuls like Jacob Markhevka who got close enough to touch the Stanley Cup.
“It’s really amazing… a lot of great NHL players have touched it, like Gretzky, all the greats have touched it and now I have,” he said.
Binnington also spent part of the day showing the trophy to his family and friends.
