So excuse the Keeper of the Cup for getting a little mixed up from time to time in the days following the Stanley Cup Final.
When he was headed to the residence of Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog with the Stanley Cup, he instead went to Landeskog's neighbors' house, but was able to laugh it off.
"I talked to Gabriel and got his address, and coming up the street there were a lot of trees, we thought we saw the number," Pritchard told NHL.com on Thursday after the Avalanche's celebratory parade in Denver. "I thought something was up, it didn't seem like a hockey player lived there."
"Then partner] Mike [Bolt] and I decided, well, there was only one way we were going to find out," Pritchard laughed.
Pritchard said two men -- neither of which was Landeskog -- came out of the house to greet them, along with a friendly dog. It was the actual residents of the house, Kit Karbler and his husband, Dmitri.
"Dmitri answered the door. We have packages arriving from time to time but we weren't expecting a delivery," Karbler told NHL.com. "We recognized the case and saw the NHL stickers on it and finally it was this realization, 'Is that the Stanley Cup?'"
"The sun shined off of it so bright. It was just polished up real nice. We have front windows into our kitchen and it just lit the whole place. It looked like a treasure," Karbler said.
But this treasure wasn't buried, it was just at the wrong house. In defense of the Keepers of the Cup, the neighboring residence was just one number off from Landeskog's address.
It has been a whirlwind few days for the Cup and those who travel with it. From making a necessary repair and paint job on the Cup after it was accidentally [dented during the Avalanche's on-ice celebration, to preparing for the big parade in Denver on Thursday, it's been non-stop.
"It happens," Pritchard said about the mix-up. "Happens with Amazon, it happens with everything. But now I know for sure where Gabriel lives."
"The guys were nice enough to let us see it and take a picture. We didn't want to take up too much of their time," Karbler said. "The first thing I did was feel around the rim because we saw it had been dented while we were watching the celebration. And it was fixed up in perfect condition."
Shortly after, Karbler posted his photo of the trophy to the community website, Neighborly, under the "Lost and Found" section, as a joke.
"They told us that we had the wrong house and that Gabriel's address was up the street," Pritchard said. "But they were very nice guys, and they got their photo of the Cup."
Landeskog told a Denver TV station, KOAA News: "I didn't know about that, but I have amazing neighbors and the community has been awesome."
If nothing else, the mix-up has left the couple in Landeskog's neighborhood with a story to tell.
"A friend of mine joked I should have been on a float at the parade because I was technically a recipient of the Stanley Cup," Karbler laughed.
He also said that yes, it was the first major sports championship trophy to arrive at the Denver home where he's lived for 31 years.
"I still read the newspaper every day. And I remember seeing Landeskog carrying the Cup off of the plane, a big color picture of it on the front page," Karbler said. "Little did I know a few hours later it would be in my driveway."
