Montour brings Stanley Cup to Six Nations hometown for parade, celebration

OHSWEKEN, Ontario -- For the second time in less than a year, residents of the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve honored hometown hero Brandon Montour for his hockey exploits on Wednesday.

Only this time, he brought a special friend with him.

A glistening 37-pound silver and nickel alloy symbol of NHL supremacy simply known as Stanley.

And understandably, both were given a hero’s welcome by this village of 1,500, almost all of whom lined the streets in tribute to Montour’s day with the Stanley Cup.

For the 30-year-old defenseman, who won the title with the Florida Panthers, it was a chance to send a message to all the youngsters living on the reserve: Dare to dream.

“I was a kid once and I grew up idolizing players, not just hockey but lacrosse,” he said. “And I think when you have one of your own or somebody that's close to, even if you don't know me, reaching this level, especially on a day like today, it's just a bonus for any kid growing up that wants to reach that level.

“I mean, you can't really describe how it feels. Just very grateful and obviously honored to kind of be in the position I'm in and, obviously, to win at this level, you can't beat it.”

With that, he hoisted the trophy above his head, one of many inspiring moments he would share with the town.

What a difference a year makes.

Last summer, 356 days before he brought hockey’s Holy Grail here for all to see on Wednesday, the community held a celebration for him after he and the Panthers advanced to the 2023 Stanley Cup Final, where they were defeated in five games by the Vegas Golden Knights.

Montour, whose father, Cam, is Indigenous Canadian, is of Mohawk descent and grew up in Ohsweken, a village inside Six Nations, which has the highest population of any First Nation in Canada. He was born 11 miles away in Brantford, Ontario, which is the hometown of the NHL’s all-time leading scorer Wayne Gretzky, and spent his childhood between Six Nations and the southwestern Ontario city of Chatham.

In a place where locals so enthusiastically support one of their own, fans on the reserve at the time bought life-sized cutouts of Montour and put them on their front lawns. About $10,000 was raised through those sales last year, with all the money going to the six minor sports associations in Six Nations: Six Nations Minor Softball, Six Nations Minor Hockey, Six Nations Figure Skating Club, Six Nations Lacrosse Association, Six Nations Girls Field Lacrosse and Six Nations Boys Field Lacrosse.

During the 2023 Final against the Golden Knights, a scheduled power outage left the area in danger of not being able to view one of the games. Civic leaders quickly came to the rescue by welcoming Montour supporters to a watch party at the local community center, which had a generator.

One year later, Montour-mania reached an entire new level.

Hundreds of fans lined a two-mile parade route, many of them wearing Montour Stanley Cup champion T-shirts that were sold with proceeds going again to the same six minor sports associations. Roadside mailboxes had red shirts tied around them for Montour and the Panthers. And as the procession approached the local arena, he thrust the Cup in the air in the direction of a house that had celebratory balloons and two huge banners dangling out front, one depicting his No. 62, the other an official Panthers flag.

“It’s a privilege and an honor to play at this level, and this is something that I’ve been able to share with family and friends,” Montour said. “Today, I get to share it with everyone.”

It has been a hectic month for Montour since the Panthers defeated the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in Game 7 of the Final on June 24.

He had 33 points (eight goals, 25 assists) during the regular season and 11 points (three goals, eight assists) during the Panthers' Cup run. All the while, as a pending unrestricted free agent, he understood that Florida’s salary cap issues may have meant he’d played his final game -- albeit the most memorable of his career -- in a Panthers jersey.

He signed a seven-year, $50 million contract ($7.14 million average annual value) with the Seattle Kraken on July 1. Since then, he and his family have visited the Pacific Northwest in search of a new home.

No matter what jersey he wears, he said, the backing people have given him in this area has been, in his words, “overwhelming.”

“Just from playing the past couple of years and getting as far as we have, you hear things from my parents about how much support I was getting from here,” Montour said. “And then to see how many people showed up for me at the community hall, it was amazing.

“And then being lucky enough and going back and winning this time, I've told people that today is obviously about me and what I've done but today's about everyone else to share that with. I'm excited about that.”

So, too, was Sherri-Lyn Hill, the chief of the Six Nations of the Grand River Elected Council.

“He is such an inspiration,” Chief Hill said. “He’s a positive role model, a great example for our young people to follow, with his drive and the way he shows teamwork.”

To Chief Hill’s point: When the parade ended, an estimated 300 children were waiting inside the Six Nations Sports & Cultural Memorial Center for a meet-and-greet with Montour and the Cup.

Of course, none of them may have been the most excited person on this day. No, that honor might very well have gone to Helena Logan, 99. Sitting in front of a motor home with friends and family at Ohsweken Speedway where the parade began, she sported a sign with a photo of Montour holding the Cup alongside his No. 62. Accompanying those were the words “99 Yr old Fan.”

Asked about Montour bringing the Cup to the reserve, Helena said it was “just wonderful.”

She wasn’t the only one in these parts who felt that way on Wednesday.