Six of the Most Memorable Stanley Cup Parade Moments
From the Tampa Bay Lightning's boat rallies to the New York Rangers taking over Manhattan, Stanley Cup parades have had their share of memorable moments.
Did anyone have more fun this past Saturday than the Vegas Golden Knights?
Their Stanley Cup parade down the Las Vegas strip saw fans pack the area as the team celebrated their first championship.
It was quite a night, from William Karlsson's hilarious speech that came right after he fell getting to the mic to Jack Eichel getting off one of the floats shirtless to hand necklaces and take pictures with fans along the route.
Golden Knights fans will remember that parade for years to come, just like the fans of any Stanley Cup champion. Here are six other parades from the past few decades that caught the eye of NHL fans everywhere:
New York Rangers Take Over Manhattan
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_4FynNuTeM[/embed]
After 54 long years, New York residents got the chance to celebrate a Stanley Cup with a parade on June 17, 1994. Thousands of fans took to the streets in Lower Manhattan to celebrate the first Rangers title in decades. A few videos have been uploaded to YouTube showing the entire parade, which is a heck of a throwback to life in the mid-1990s.
One of the funniest comments during the broadcast of the parade comes at the 23:14 mark of the video, in which one of the hosts comments on Mark Messier's age and being 33 years old during the 1993-94 campaign and how "he doesn't have that many years left." Messier's final game came 10 years later.
Tampa Bay Lightning Take to the Water for Their Stanley Cup Parades
After their 2020 and 2021 triumphs, the Tampa Bay Lightning took a different approach to celebrating their Stanley Cup championships. In both years, the team took to the water for a boat parade. The 2020 celebration was an attempt to keep people safe during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the Lightning returned to the water again for what has to be two of the more unique Cup celebrations of all-time.
Alexander Ovechkin's Stanley Cup Parade Speech
In 2018, the Washington Capitals finally took home their first championship by knocking off the Golden Knights in five games.
The Cup's first trip with the Capitals also marked Alex Ovechkin's first time with Lord Stanley and kicked off a summer that saw him having quite a bit of fun, to say the least.
After more than a decade in a Washington uniform, it seemed only fitting that the most recognizable Capital would be the biggest story at their first Cup rally, capped off by his iconic quote at the 4:15 mark of the video below.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3kOc96v0ho[/embed]
Bowen Byram Gets Stopped by the Colorado Police Department
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAqJKaXfaJs[/embed]
We wrote about Bowen Byram being mistaken for a fan before at last year's Cup final parade, but it's too funny not to bring it up again.
From Byram getting separated from the parade in the first place to fans telling police he wasn't just a random person trying to sneak into the route, everything about this situation was laugh-out-loud funny. As far as we know, no Golden Knights players this year faced a similar situation on Saturday night.
Brett Hull's Rendition of Gloria is a Tad Bit Off
The last NHL player to record 80 goals in a season? Check. Hockey Hall of Famer? Check. Singer? Well, that certainly is up for debate when it comes to the accolades of Brett Hull.
At the 2019 Stanley Cup rally for the St. Louis Blues, the franchise legend gave a speech that also saw him break into Laura Branigan's Gloria, which became the song of the Blues' playoff run to the Cup. Hull put his heart and soul into it, even if it may have been a bit off-tune.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iKW9V5SRRs[/embed]
One Million People Show Up to the Detroit Red Wings' Parade in 1997
Just three years after the Rangers broke their lengthy Cup drought, the Detroit Red Wings would break their own in 1997 after defeating the Philadelphia Flyers. A million people reportedly showed up to the parade to celebrate the first championship since 1955.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LTjCxQrkco[/embed]
Everywhere you look, there's a sea of people on the streets in downtown Detroit, with fans even climbing up trees to get a better view. Those same people probably returned to those same trees in 1998, when the Wings went back-to-back.
