Pietrangelo, Stamkos dads toast another Stanley Cup victory

LAS VEGAS -- At least once each summer, long-time friends Joe Pietrangelo and Chris Stamkos try to get together in the Toronto area to enjoy a libation or two, catch up on how their respective families are doing, and share a few laughs.

Of course, in the past few years, the conversations may have included the topic of an upcoming Stanley Cup party hosted by one of their famous sons.

Given the success of Alex Pietrangelo and Steven Stamkos of late, it's been hard not to.

"Two kids who played minor hockey with and against each other, I mean, who could have predicted this?" Chris Stamkos said. "I mean, you don't think about that when they're kids and you're at the rink watching your boys.

"It is kind of unusual and amazing, this success they've had recently, isn't it?"

That's putting it mildly.

Consider the championship run Pietrangelo and Stamkos have been on.

In each of the past five years, one of them has been in the Stanley Cup Final. In four of those, one of them hoisted the trophy.

Certainly neither one could have predicted that when they played against each other as kids: Pietrangelo for Richmond Hill, Stamkos for Markham. Or when Chris and Joe coached both boys as 11-year-olds on the Toronto Blues summer team, which also featured future NHLers John Tavares, Michael Del Zotto, Cody Hodgson and Michael Hutchinson.

Who could have guessed both Alex and Steven would go on to win two Cups each in a five-year span?

"Good coaching as kids I guess, right?" Alex said with a chuckle after hoisting the trophy in celebration of his Vegas Golden Knights' title-clinching 9-3 victory against the Florida Panthers in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final on Tuesday. "I guess our dads did something right."

The veteran defenseman then took a playful jab at them.

"They've known each other since we were kids. They coached the team, which doesn't say much because that means we must have been pretty [darn] good. Because they think they know a lot. But they don't.

"I think they just opened the bench doors for us."

Alex laughed. All joking aside, he said, he was appreciative of the time both men put in to help all the kids.

In the case of Alex and Steven, it's paid dividends.

Alex started the title run when he helped the St. Louis Blues win the Cup as their captain in 2019. Steven, the captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning, won titles in 2020 and 2021. The Lightning made a third consecutive appearance in the Final in 2022 but lost to the Colorado Avalanche in six games.

After Tuesday, Alex now has two, just like Steven. This one came as a member of the Golden Knights.

"It's nice for our dads, they can share a few beers over the summer and talk about it," Alex said. "But Steven and I, we've always been competitive. It's always been like that, even when we were little kids, so what's happened the past few years, it's a cool thing.

"I think it's one of those things that, when you're done playing, you can sit back, have a few beers and talk about the past. Those are the things you're going to remember, those special moments."

Did he ever get invited to one of Stamkos' Cup parties?

"Ya, but I could never really go," Alex said. "We were always in St. Louis or, now, in Vegas. When you have four kids under the age of five, it's hard to get away."

Nevertheless, the bond between the families still exists, even if there might be some geographical issues.

On Tuesday night, not long after the final horn had sounded at T-Mobile Arena, Joe Pietrangelo got a call. It was Chris Stamkos back in the Toronto area offering congratulations to the Pietrangelo family.

More fodder to talk about when they meet in the coming months.