No matter who wins — the Panthers or the Oilers — the Stanley Cup is coming to the Hamilton area

No matter who wins the Stanley Cup in 2024, you can be sure — thanks to Darnell Nurse, Adam Henrique, Carter Verhaeghe and Brandon Montour — the Cup will come back to the Hamilton area.

Local hockey fans are well-represented with Montour from Six Nations of the Grand River, near Brantford, Ont., his friend Adam Henrique from Brantford, plus Verhaeghe and Nurse from Hamilton, playing in the finals.

Nurse, Henrique and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Dallas Stars 2-1 on Sunday and will return to the finals for the first time since 2006, with a chance to win their first Cup since 1990. They could become the first Canadian team to lift the trophy in 31 years, since 1993 when the Montreal Canadiens beat the Los Angeles Kings four games to one.

Montour, Verhaeghe and the Florida Panthers return to the finals after losing to Las Vegas last year and getting swept by Colorado in 1996. The Panthers won the East title series in six games, beating the New York Rangers 2-1 on Saturday night.

Last year, though Montour didn't win the Cup, he was welcomed home to Six Nations as a champion and a hero.

"When I was a kid — I don't really know the last person from Six Nations to make it to the NHL," Montour told the CBC after the 2023 season. "I didn't really have that, but to become neighbours or see me at a lacrosse game. Things of that nature. It gives them that hope, I hope, that they could get there one day as well."

Montour and Henrique hold an annual golf tournament in Caledonia every summer, raising money for several charities in the region that help kids stay active through sports. Henrique said, last summer, the tournament allows them to "give back to the people who have supported them their entire careers."

Nurse family is a Hamilton sports dynasty

Mark Hill, who was the elected Chief of Six Nations of the Grand River until late 2023, said last year that during the playoffs he "noticed the young people. And their faces. Their big smiles watching the big screen while one of our own was skating around. [Montour] is so inspiring."

The playoffs last year were special for Montour for another reason. Just as Game 1 in the NHL final series began, Montour's wife Ryian went into labour. Montour left Las Vegas around 2 a.m. after the game and flew back to Florida on a private jet, making it in time for the birth of his son, Kai. 

He said he arrived in Boca Raton, Fla., around 6:30 a.m.. Kai was born around noon and he was back in Las Vegas by 10 p.m. the same night. Kai will celebrate his first birthday Tuesday.

Verhaeghe brought the Cup to Hamilton when he won as a member of the 2019-20 Tampa Bay Lightning. He started his career with the Flamborough Hockey Association, before joining the Hamilton Junior Bulldogs. Then he played with the Niagara Ice Dogs in the Ontario Hockey League. His former coach, Marty Williamson, told CBC Hamilton in 2023 that Verhaeghe was "our number one centre, our captain — a very, very great leader." 

Nurse comes from one of the great Hamilton sporting families. His father Richard was a receiver with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and mom Cathy played basketball at McMaster University. Sister Tamika played basketball at Bowling Green and Oregon.

His younger sister, Kia, is a guard for the Los Angeles Sparks in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She's a two-time WNBA champion and was named a league all-star in 2019. His cousin Sarah Nurse plays as a forward for Toronto's Professional Women's Hockey League.

Game 1 of the final series starts Saturday in Florida at 8 p.m. ET.