Before his scheduled day with the Stanley Cup on Sunday, Nathan Horton's last several weeks with the Boston Bruins had already been a tad surreal:
Scoring game-winning overtime goals in the playoffs; suffering a concussion in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final that resulted in Aaron Rome's 4-game suspension; and then serving as the injured inspiration to his team, including his pouring Boston "dirty water" on the Vancouver Canucks' ice before Game 7.
You can add Horton's date with Stanley in Dunnville, Ont. to the list of Cup-related weirdness for the star forward.
Horton was set bring the Cup to Dunnville for a parade and a celebration in Central Park — three hours with appreciative locals seeing the Chalice arrive in town for the first time. It's bigger than the Mudcat Festival!
One problem: Neither Horton nor the Cup were seen when the festivities were set to begin around 11 a.m. — and no one could locate the Cup.
Why? According to Horton's wife, model Tammy Plante-Horton the Cup went missing while en route to Buffalo. Via Pro Hockey Talk, she tweeted the following (since deleted):
More from WEEI. Ah, but there's a happy ending it appears:
At around 12:30 p.m., Horton arrived at the event sans Cup, according to Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star. According to McGran: "Horton says he's embarrassed Cup not with him and he only gets it for a short time."
We'll update later with more on Nathan Horton and the Goblet of Ire.