Stanley Cup Update.

From the weekly newspaper of the Diocese of Brooklyn, The Tablet, comes this story of hockey and Faith, not necessarily in that order.

Player Takes Stanley Cup Home to Parish Church

Father Ron Babich says it was an “awesome experience” when the limousine pulled up at Our Lady Queen of All Saints parish July 27 and Carolina Hurricanes hockey player Chad LaRose got out with the Stanley Cup.

“I hadn’t seen Chad in a long time, and the first thing he did was give me a big bear hug,” said Father Babich, pastor of the parish in suburban Fraser, about six miles northeast of Detroit.

LaRose had been baptized by Father Babich as an infant and grew up in the parish, and his parents – Grant and Sandy LaRose – are still members of the parish.

Calling Lord Stanley’s Cup “magnificent, “Father Babich said it was an honor to have been able to see it, but it was even more important that LaRose took the time to visit the Shrine of Our Lady Queen of All Saints and offer prayers of thanksgiving for the team’s 2006 National Hockey League championship.

“I was asked by Chad to say a blessing and to bless the cup, Chad and all in attendance. This was very special for me, and most of all a special and great honor for this parish,” Father Babich added.

LaRose says it was only natural to bring the Stanley Cup to his old parish: “I was raised Catholic, and we always attended Queen of All Saints, and me and Father Babich have been friends for a long time.”

“I put the cup in front of Mother Mary and hung out for about a half-hour,” said the right wing for the Hurricanes.

Amen to that, Brother.

His Catholic faith continues to play an important role in his life, and he now attends St. Raphael the Archangel Church in Raleigh, N.C.

“I thank God for my blessings, and how he has blessed my whole family,” LaRose said.

Sandy LaRose said she and her husband were happy when their son got called up to the Hurricanes as a rookie in December, but had not expected him to get very much time on the ice.

“We were excited that he got to play a little bit, but then he got to play a little more and a little more, and then he was on the ice winning the Stanley Cup,” she said.Chad LaRose, 24, played in four games of the seven-game championship series, and was on the ice in 21 of the 25 playoff games that preceded it.

Sandy LaRose said her son stuck to his aspirations to make it into the NHL despite many people telling him that he was too small at 5 feet 10 inches tall and 180 pounds.

“But with a lot of prayer, and a lot of faith, and a lot of determination, he did it,” she said.

Whenever the Stanley Cup travels it is accompanied by a guard, and the guard on duty that day was a Catholic from Hamilton, Ontario, Sandy LaRose said. “He said it was the first time he had ever gone to a Catholic church with it, and he was pretty happy about it,” she added.