2016: San Jose, CA

It was a Thursday night and I was watching game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals.The Penguins were up 3-1 in the series and could win the cup at home. As I sat there nervously watching the game, I was thinking about how awesome it must be to get to see your team play in such a high stakes game. I couldn’t even imagine what the atmosphere would be like. The Penguins ended up losing which means the series would be going back to San Jose.

On Saturday morning one of my friends sent me a link to a tweet from Giftofthecup. Brett said he was looking for a Penguins fan to take to the game. My heart skipped a beat. I live in Northern California about 3 hours north of San Jose. Right when I got home from work I decided to send an email to Brett. That whole night I kept refreshing my email hoping he sent me a reply.

I woke up and instantly checked my email. As I sat there staring at my phone screen, I was thinking is this real? Brett had sent me a reply asking me how far I was from San Jose and if I could make the drive down there for the game. I emailed him my phone number and shortly he texted me with the news that he chose me! I couldn’t believe it. How can someone he so generous? The first person I called was my dad. We are originally from Pittsburgh but my family moved out to California when I was young. My parents got divorced and my dad moved back out to Pittsburgh.All of my relative live there. I consider it my “homeland”. Of course he is a diehard Penguins fan like myself. We always talk on the phone before and after the games. Anways, he couldn’t believe that I was getting the chance to go to the Stanley Cup Finals. He said, “How unbelievable would it be if you got to see them hoist the cup?”

Right when I got off the phone with him, I threw on my Penguins attire, got in my car, and started the drive to San Jose. It took me longer than initially thought (traffic, accidents) but Brett was extremely patient and was only concerned that I made it there safely. I arrived to San Jose and arranged to meet Brett at his hotel lobby. To be honest I was a little nervous. I didn’t know what to expect. Then when I met Brett I instantly knew he was a genuine person. We went and had a quick bite to eat and a beer before heading to the game.

We had some great seats to see the game. The energy in the shark tank was unreal. As the 3rd period started, the Penguins had the lead and my heart starting beating like I had just ran a marathon. The thought that I might see the Stanley Cup get raised started to become a reality. 5 minutes left, they are still in the lead, 3 minutes, 2 minutes, then with 1.02 Hornqvist scores to make the lead 3-1. As the clock runs down and I see the team swarm Murray, I couldn’t believe that I am watching history unfold right before my eyes. It is hard to describe that feeling.

Brett is one of the rare human beings who cares about giving someone an opportunity of a lifetime without asking for anything in return. We met as 2 fans of hockey and hours later got to witness the biggest game in the hockey season. He was such a great person to share the experience with. Just an all around good person who is making dreams of fan come true. This experience is going to be something I remember for the rest of my life. I am one day going to be telling my kids that I got to see the Stanley Cup get hoisted in person, and Brett is the sole reason that I am going to be able to tell them that.