How new Maple Leaf Oliver Ekman-Larsson spent his day with the Stanley Cup
Photo credit: Florida Panthers/X
Newly-minted Maple Leafs defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson has officially revealed how he spent his day with the Stanley Cup.
Earlier this week, we saw Florida Panthers captain Aleksander "Sasha" Barkov return home to Tampere, Finland to share his day with the Cup with his supporters, also going so far as to have a Finnish pro skateboarder, Marius Syvänen, soar over the Stanley Cup on his skateboard in what is the first skateboard trick over the Cup in its illustrious history.
Last week, it was
Matthew Tkachuk making headlines by giving back to the community in St. Louis for his day with the Cup, spending the day with sick kids at a local Children's Hospital before heading to the fire station and the police station to honour the city's first responders.
As far as Oliver Ekman-Larsson's day with the Cup goes, he kept things a little more humble. Yes, he did have a public gathering at a local arena in Tingsryd, Sweden, signing autographs and taking photos with fans, but he also did something very heartwarming and personal. He took the Cup to the cemetery where his late mother, Annika, is buried. Ekman-Larsson lost his mother, tragically, in 2017 after she lost her battle with breast and lung cancer.
There's no doubt that it was an emotional day for Ekman-Larsson, but with his day with the Cup now in the rearview, OEL will now turn the page to the next chapter of his career in hopes of winning another Cup, with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Back when he had first signed with the Panthers, OEL had told the media that he had just had a feeling about Florida. Similarly, he said when the Maple Leafs reached out to him on July 1st, "it tingled a little extra in the stomach." Now, the Swedish blueliner can't wait to get started with his new club, with training camp opening in a little over a month.
"It's going to be a lot of fun," Ekman-Larsson told NHL.com. "The whole journey from winning to getting to decide what to do in the future, it's also a part of settling in. Toronto reached out and it tingled a little extra in the stomach. We are really excited to start the new season over there, it's going to be a lot of fun. It's a lot of history and culture in that organization."
Will Oliver Ekman-Larsson win another Stanley Cup, this time with the Maple Leafs? Let us know in the poll below!
Previously on MapleLeafsDaily
POLL |
AOUT 1 | 1716 ANSWERS How new Maple Leaf Oliver Ekman-Larsson spent his day with the Stanley Cup Will Oliver Ekman-Larsson win another Stanley Cup, this time with the Maple Leafs? |
Yes! I can feel it! | 497 | 29 % |
No, this team is cursed | 672 | 39.2 % |
Too early to say | 547 | 31.9 % |
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