Barking mad for the Stanley Cup

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This article was published 09/07/2019 (2461 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Even though hundreds of people turned out to see Joel Edmundson bring the Stanley Cup to Brandon on Monday, the first in line for a photo wasn’t human.

Local therapy dog Grizzly the St. Bernard and owner Mark Saler kicked off the festivities at the Keystone Centre by meeting the hometown champ and Canada’s favourite trophy. At 150 pounds, Grizzly was impossible to avoid, not that anyone tried.

As the crowd waited for Edmundson to arrive, Grizzly and Mark patrolled along the lineup, delivering cuddles and attention where desired. With conditions hot both inside and outside the building, an employee came along regularly with a water bottle to help rehydrate the friendly giant dog.

“Grizzly’s an animal version of the Stanley Cup,” Saler said. “Everybody wants to meet him and he brings smiles to everyone.”

When Edmundson arrived with the Stanley Cup, he came through the crowd with the trophy hoisted in the air. He gave everyone in line a good view before going to get set up for interviews and photo opportunities.

The Blues’ defenceman gave the St. Bernard a good petting before he, Grizzly and Saler posed for a photo. Not stealing the spotlight from his dog, Saler let Edmundson take a photo with just Grizzly and the cup as well.

“It was fantastic, absolutely,” Saler said. “Joel should be proud of his accomplishments and it’s great to have the Stanley Cup here in Brandon, Manitoba.”

Normally, Grizzly’s interactions with the public are restricted to his weekly hospital visits in Brandon and monthly visits to Minnedosa and Neepawa. The five-year-old Grizzly has been making visits for three years, visiting cancer patients, children and anyone else who needs love.

When Grizzly sees his green therapy dog bandana get picked up for a trip to visit people, Saler said that he barks with excitement. The patients aren’t the only one excited for dog visits. Unfortunately, Grizzly is so well loved that Saler said he has to turn down 90 per cent of the requests he gets.

Saler asked if he could bring Grizzly to Monday’s festivities, and the Keystone Centre offered them the chance to be first to get a picture with Edmundson.

“We thought, ‘what a great idea to have him as an ambassador of our community, to be the first fan in line to represent Brandon and the Westman community,’” said Keystone Centre marketing and sponsorship manager Krista Kowaluk.

Kowaluk said they pitched the idea to the Edmundson family and they were receptive, having heard of Grizzly’s volunteer work.

This isn’t the first time that Grizzly has gotten involved with hockey, however. Last season, Grizzly was invited by the Winnipeg Jets to their Hockey Fights Cancer game night, where Grizzly got to meet a bunch of young cancer patients and some members of the team.

“(Dustin) Byfuglien was as excited as could be to meet him, and Kevin Cheveldayoff came around and gave us a personal thank you and handshake.”

Brandonites worried about missing their chance to meet Grizzly needn’t fret. Saler said that the Brandon Wheat Kings have reached out about Grizzly making some appearances during their upcoming season.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

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