Stanley Cup Champion and Stirling native Matt Cooke says it still hasn’t sunk in. The Pittsburgh Penguins forward is back home after a game-7 victory in Detroit last Friday. The scrappy Cooke says it was one of the most anxious days of his life. Cooke says he could hardly sleep and was anxious to get at it. He says he remembers winning Game-7 of the Stanley Cup Final many times playing on the Mill Pond in Stirling after school.
Cooke says he’ll always remember the Marc Andre Fleury save with 1.5 seconds remaining in game-7 and a text message sent to all the players from owner Mario Lemieux last Friday morning telling them “to play without fear and if you do you’ll have success….see you at centre ice”.
Cooke says the Cup will be coming home later this summer and there will be a fundraiser for the Foundation of Hope charity set up by Cooke and his wife Michelle….but, he doesn’t have a firm date on when Stanley will be coming to Quinte.
