Video: The Stanley Cup Goes Fishing
OutdoorHub Reporters 09.10.13
The Stanley Cup is iconic among hockey fans and players. When it came to Chicago Blackhawks player Bryan Bickell’s turn to spend a day with Stanley, he decides to throw a life jacket on the beloved trophy and take it fishing. Why? Well, its just Bickell keeping his end of a promise to Dave Mercer, a friend and host of Facts of Fishing. As it turns out, Bickell is a die-hard bass angler and met Mercer several years ago at a charity fishing tournament.
“He had seen my Facts of Fishing show and contacted me through Twitter,” Mercer told basszone.com. “I’m a big hockey fan, so I figured that it would be fun if we fished the charity event together. We hit it off and have become pretty good buddies.”
They also became loyal fishing companions. The story goes that while fishing last year, Bickell began making jokes about how Mercer never invited him to be a celebrity guest on the show. Mercer promised him that if the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup and Bickell agrees to bring the trophy fishing, he’ll get an invitation to the show. Of course, Bickell wasn’t keen on letting his friend forget.
After wrestling the cup—and the win—from the Boston Bruins in the finals, Bickell eventually got his day with the trophy. Mercer was forced to make good on his promise, but seemed to have fun doing so. The two men, along with Stanley, set out on the Otonabee River in Ontario for some bass fishing.
“This was his day with the Stanley Cup, and he won’t get another day with it ever again until he is on another team that wins it. He could have done whatever he wanted to do with the Cup, and I was really honored that he wanted to go fishing with me for part of his time,” Mercer said. “I really wanted him to catch fish.”
We’re just happy nobody dropped Stanley into the water.
