Mike Jung
05-03-2007, 06:17 PM
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Canadian military policeman Master Cpl. Mike Lehman, from Gatineau, Que., keeps an eye on the Stanley Cup as it arrives at the base in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Wednesday. (CP Photo/Ryan Remiorz)
Cup comes to Kandahar
Hillier, ex-NHLers visit troops in Afghanistan
By The Canadian Press
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) — Canada’s chief of defence staff is in Afghanistan, but he’s sharing the spotlight with a silver celebrity: the Stanley Cup.
Gen. Rick Hillier arrived Wednesday in Kandahar with the cherished hockey chalice and 19 former NHL players, including enforcers like Bob Probert and Dave (Tiger) Williams.
Other hockey stalwarts in Afghanistan include goaltender Ron Tugnutt and former Montreal Canadiens stars Rejean Houle and Yvon Lambert.
“It’s a good thing I went to Disney last week with the family; it prepared me for the ride in,” Tugnutt said after the group’s C-130 Hercules turned a stomach-churning circle before landing.
“I went on all the big roller coasters, and that experience — plus a few Gravol — prepared me for that flight. It was very intense, actually, and (the soldiers) said, ‘That was nothing’.”
The players are in Kandahar to show their support to Canada’s soldiers, show off the cup and play a little old-time hockey.
As they milled about on the tarmac, the players mingled with rank-and-file soldiers and senior military officials, including Hillier and Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant, the commander of Canadian forces in Afghanistan.
“We’re grateful to have them here with us,” Hillier told the gathered crowd.
“We appreciate the opportunity to touch and see this cup ... before it comes home to Canada this year with one of our two Canadian teams.”
After the Stanley Cup was wheeled off the plane and placed on display, soldiers posed for photos and talked with the players, many of them giddy with excitement.
“I got the chance to be close to the Cup, take a picture with it — it was a great moment for me,” said Cpl. Lisa-Marie Guernon, 29, from Montreal, a Canadiens cap on her head.
“Especially here in Afghanistan — those types of things are pretty special for us.”
Tugnutt said he was thrilled to be asked to visit with the Canadians.
“When we were offered to come and do this, it was a great honour,” he said. “To be able to come and experience this and meet the soldiers, it’s been incredible — talking to them, hearing their stories.”
Grant said he expects the visit to be an incredible boost to troop morale.
“From a morale standpoint, there is no equivalent to this,” Grant said. “You can’t put a price on it.”
Hillier, who met privately Thursday with Asadullah Khalid, the governor of Kandahar province, was scheduled to meet with reporters later in the day.
Hillier is at the heart of a controversy over allegations that prisoners are being tortured in Afghan prisons once they leave Canadian custody.
He and Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor have been accused of allowing the transfer of prisoners despite the risk of abuse.
http://www.torontosun.com/News/2007/05/02/0502_stanley200.jpg
Canadian military policeman Master Cpl. Mike Lehman, from Gatineau, Que., keeps an eye on the Stanley Cup as it arrives at the base in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Wednesday. (CP Photo/Ryan Remiorz)
Cup comes to Kandahar
Hillier, ex-NHLers visit troops in Afghanistan
By The Canadian Press
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) — Canada’s chief of defence staff is in Afghanistan, but he’s sharing the spotlight with a silver celebrity: the Stanley Cup.
Gen. Rick Hillier arrived Wednesday in Kandahar with the cherished hockey chalice and 19 former NHL players, including enforcers like Bob Probert and Dave (Tiger) Williams.
Other hockey stalwarts in Afghanistan include goaltender Ron Tugnutt and former Montreal Canadiens stars Rejean Houle and Yvon Lambert.
“It’s a good thing I went to Disney last week with the family; it prepared me for the ride in,” Tugnutt said after the group’s C-130 Hercules turned a stomach-churning circle before landing.
“I went on all the big roller coasters, and that experience — plus a few Gravol — prepared me for that flight. It was very intense, actually, and (the soldiers) said, ‘That was nothing’.”
The players are in Kandahar to show their support to Canada’s soldiers, show off the cup and play a little old-time hockey.
As they milled about on the tarmac, the players mingled with rank-and-file soldiers and senior military officials, including Hillier and Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant, the commander of Canadian forces in Afghanistan.
“We’re grateful to have them here with us,” Hillier told the gathered crowd.
“We appreciate the opportunity to touch and see this cup ... before it comes home to Canada this year with one of our two Canadian teams.”
After the Stanley Cup was wheeled off the plane and placed on display, soldiers posed for photos and talked with the players, many of them giddy with excitement.
“I got the chance to be close to the Cup, take a picture with it — it was a great moment for me,” said Cpl. Lisa-Marie Guernon, 29, from Montreal, a Canadiens cap on her head.
“Especially here in Afghanistan — those types of things are pretty special for us.”
Tugnutt said he was thrilled to be asked to visit with the Canadians.
“When we were offered to come and do this, it was a great honour,” he said. “To be able to come and experience this and meet the soldiers, it’s been incredible — talking to them, hearing their stories.”
Grant said he expects the visit to be an incredible boost to troop morale.
“From a morale standpoint, there is no equivalent to this,” Grant said. “You can’t put a price on it.”
Hillier, who met privately Thursday with Asadullah Khalid, the governor of Kandahar province, was scheduled to meet with reporters later in the day.
Hillier is at the heart of a controversy over allegations that prisoners are being tortured in Afghan prisons once they leave Canadian custody.
He and Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor have been accused of allowing the transfer of prisoners despite the risk of abuse.