Burford and Six Nations residents supported their local heroes during game seven of the Stanley Cup final on Monday, June 24, 2024.
Burford residents supported local boy Adam Henrique during a watch party at the Burford Community Centre while Six Nations of the Grand River residents gathered at the Six Nations Community Hall to cheer on hometown hero Brandon Montour.
In Six Nations, hundreds of residents packed themselves into the local community centre to watch the long-awaited seventh game.
The excitement was palpable as social media was flooded with congratulations for Montour after he captured his first Stanley Cup.
“Congratulations Brandon Montour #62,” said Tammy Stoddart-Magyar on social media. “…So proud to see this as it shows all young people they can do it if they try hard.”
“This final series was so darn exciting,” said Mary Jo Wabano who shared her excitement on social media. “It will be nice when the Cup comes to the Six Nations of the Grand River. During his interview, the message from Montour to his home community was ‘be ready for it to come home.’”
In Burford, around 70 of Henrique’s friends, family and local community members came together to share their support. Many wore a variety of Oilers’ shirts or Henrique jerseys for the centre forward.
Throughout the game, guests of all ages nervously sat in their chairs as they cheered on Henrique and the rest of the Oilers team.
“Let’s go Oilers, let’s go! Let’s go Oilers, let’s go!” shouted the guests.
While sleepy youngsters played with bright orange balloons and cowbells, the adults continued to sit in the suspense of it all.
“It was very intense, we were on the edge of our seats the whole time,” said Heather Olszowka, Henrique’s cousin. “I feel like they just got a bit unlucky at certain points.”
Despite the 2-1 win for the Florida Panthers, Taylor Bosse, another one of Henrique’s cousins, said that she was proud that the Oilers were able to recover like they did.
“They played strong this year and they came back from three games down,” Bosse said. “It’s a tough loss after coming back like that but they were amazing and we’re so proud of you Adam.”
The family said watching Henrique on the big screen with the community over the past three weeks was a special opportunity.
“We came to all of the watch parties but one, and it was so fun to cheer him on as a family and a community and to just watch the crowd just get bigger and bigger,” said Olszowka.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
