LMAO this is a great short read:
Years from now, as the Pittsburgh Penguins reminisce about their Stanley Cup championship of 2009, you can imagine one of them looking at pictures from the Game 7 aftermath and saying, “Who’s that guy?”
Chances are the mystery man will be Ryan Kraft, a Washington Twp. resident and lifelong Penguins fan who took advantage of postgame delirium on June 12 to sneak into the winning locker room at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
He has about 40 photos to prove it, including one of him hoisting the Cup and another with Penguins owner Mario Lemieux, his hero. He even got Lemieux to autograph a champagne bottle.
A 32-year-old salesman for the water treatment company RainSoft, Kraft is the leading scorer in Centerville High School hockey history, tallying 343 points from 1992-96. He captained the club hockey team at Wright State, graduating in 2004.
This Penguins devotion comes from his father, attorney Michael Kraft, who educated Ryan about the great Lemieux at an impressionable age. Recently, at the suggestion of his 7-year-old nephew, Akaius, Ryan honored the team’s current superstar by naming one of his dogs Sidney, the other Crosby.
In his words
“After the game, me and my buddies, Brian Fisher and P.J. Paslosky, moved down a little closer to take some pictures. As we’re shooting, the Penguins are skating around with the Cup, then taking a team photo. At this point, family members are let onto the ice.
“So I go over in position where a family member might be, and after about 15 minutes, (defenseman) Philippe Boucher skates over and points to the guy in front of me. When that guy raises his hand, I raise mine. The security guard sees both of us, opens the door and everyone just assumes I’m a relative.
“Once on the ice, it’s open season. I have access to the tunnel back to the locker room and it’s just a big celebration — players everywhere, hanging out, playing music and spraying champagne.
“A couple players pick me up and swing me around. I’m spraying a bottle of champagne. Amazing.
“I’m in the hallway to the locker room and Lemieux is walking right toward me. My heart is racing, getting ready to pound out of my chest. I put my arm around him, put my camera out and snap the picture. That might be my favorite.
“I didn’t know if I had gotten the Cup picture. In the locker room, when the Cup was being passed around, I say to a guy, ‘You’ve got to get my picture with the Cup.’ But the red light on the camera is flashing. I kiss the Cup, put it above my head and the guy takes the picture just as the battery dies. I didn’t know I’d gotten it until I got back to Dayton at 7 in the morning. I was so relieved.
“It’s a great story. I won’t let it die. I take a couple of those pictures with me anywhere I go. It’s fun. What an amazing night, once in a lifetime. I’m glad it happened to me.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2408 or [email protected].
Found at this link:
http://www.daytondailynews.com/dayton-sports/centerville-grad-crashed-penguins-cup-party-231825.html
Years from now, as the Pittsburgh Penguins reminisce about their Stanley Cup championship of 2009, you can imagine one of them looking at pictures from the Game 7 aftermath and saying, “Who’s that guy?”
Chances are the mystery man will be Ryan Kraft, a Washington Twp. resident and lifelong Penguins fan who took advantage of postgame delirium on June 12 to sneak into the winning locker room at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.
He has about 40 photos to prove it, including one of him hoisting the Cup and another with Penguins owner Mario Lemieux, his hero. He even got Lemieux to autograph a champagne bottle.
A 32-year-old salesman for the water treatment company RainSoft, Kraft is the leading scorer in Centerville High School hockey history, tallying 343 points from 1992-96. He captained the club hockey team at Wright State, graduating in 2004.
This Penguins devotion comes from his father, attorney Michael Kraft, who educated Ryan about the great Lemieux at an impressionable age. Recently, at the suggestion of his 7-year-old nephew, Akaius, Ryan honored the team’s current superstar by naming one of his dogs Sidney, the other Crosby.
In his words
“After the game, me and my buddies, Brian Fisher and P.J. Paslosky, moved down a little closer to take some pictures. As we’re shooting, the Penguins are skating around with the Cup, then taking a team photo. At this point, family members are let onto the ice.
“So I go over in position where a family member might be, and after about 15 minutes, (defenseman) Philippe Boucher skates over and points to the guy in front of me. When that guy raises his hand, I raise mine. The security guard sees both of us, opens the door and everyone just assumes I’m a relative.
“Once on the ice, it’s open season. I have access to the tunnel back to the locker room and it’s just a big celebration — players everywhere, hanging out, playing music and spraying champagne.
“A couple players pick me up and swing me around. I’m spraying a bottle of champagne. Amazing.
“I’m in the hallway to the locker room and Lemieux is walking right toward me. My heart is racing, getting ready to pound out of my chest. I put my arm around him, put my camera out and snap the picture. That might be my favorite.
“I didn’t know if I had gotten the Cup picture. In the locker room, when the Cup was being passed around, I say to a guy, ‘You’ve got to get my picture with the Cup.’ But the red light on the camera is flashing. I kiss the Cup, put it above my head and the guy takes the picture just as the battery dies. I didn’t know I’d gotten it until I got back to Dayton at 7 in the morning. I was so relieved.
“It’s a great story. I won’t let it die. I take a couple of those pictures with me anywhere I go. It’s fun. What an amazing night, once in a lifetime. I’m glad it happened to me.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2408 or [email protected].
Found at this link:
http://www.daytondailynews.com/dayton-sports/centerville-grad-crashed-penguins-cup-party-231825.html
