LEWISTON, N.Y. — The Stanley Cup spent the day in Lewiston thanks to Rick Dudley, Senior Advisor to the General Manager of the Florida Panthers.
Just over a month ago, the Panthers won the Stanley Cup Finals in 7 games, marking the franchise’s first-ever championship.
Dudley, a Lewiston native and a former member of the Buffalo Sabres organization, celebrated his first championship after more than 50 years working in professional hockey.
Dudley played in over 300 games with the Sabres and was the head coach of the team for three seasons in the early 1990s.
Now, he’s a champion, and sat down with me to discuss this special moment:
Q: What was that moment like for you during game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals?
Dudley: “It was amazing. I was too nervous to sit there and watch it, so most of it, I was watching on TV.”
Q: Has it set in yet that you are a Stanley Cup Champion?
Dudley: "It really hadn’t, [Panthers’ General Manager] Bill [Zito] handed me the Stanley Cup after he had it, and he did it on purpose, because he wanted me to get some attention. He knew he’d be on national TV, so he made Patric Hornqvist, a hall-of-fame player, come over and drag me over, so [Zito] could hand the cup off to me, and I got a thousand texts after people saw me on TV with that, it’s nice to think you’ve been appreciated.”
Q: You’ve worked your whole life for this moment, was it everything you’ve been waiting for?
Dudley: “It was and mostly because of the group. This is a wonderful group of people I work with, and they work their butts off. [Zito] put that together, and Paul Maurice is as good of a coach as you’ll find."
Q: Have you seen your name engraved on the Stanley Cup?
Dudley: “Not in person [before Tuesday], people had sent me pictures.”
Q: What did you think seeing that?
Dudley: “That was a moment. My brother called me and told me I was on it and where to look. It hits you. That’s something that lasts conceivably through my lifetime for sure and maybe a bit longer. The biggest thing is that I’m on there with some really good people. I can’t judge every group on there, but I’m on there with some great people.”
Q: You have your one day with the cup, why are you sharing it with everybody here in Lewiston?
Dudley: “There’s a group of guys are the Griffon Brewery and Gastropub, they are really really good people… The Sabres weren’t in [the playoffs], so they adopted us as their team [two years ago, when the Panthers lost in the Finals]… So, I said you know what, if I ever do win it, this is the place I’ll bring it… I know nobody in this area has had a picture taken with the cup, and I just thought that would be kind of cool.”
