If you thought it was never going to happen, no one would have blamed you.
Despite all odds, Sheldon Brookbank brought the Stanley Cup home to Lanigan on Aug. 28, taking pictures with hundreds of fans that flocked to Lanigan for a full day of events. It was Sheldon Brookbank Day, complete with a parade and fireworks.
This was the same Sheldon Brookbank who went undrafted, didn't break into the NHL until he was 26 and bounced around the minor leagues like an oversized pinball.
While toiling away in obscurity in Mississippi or Milwaukee, bringing the Stanley Cup home would have seemed impossible.
Like many others who came to Lanigan that day, Marguerite and Ken Brookbank, Sheldon's grandparents, were watching on June 24, the night the Blackhawks beat the Boston Bruins to claim the Stanley Cup.
The next morning, Marguerite received several calls in the morning - all from telemarketers. When the phone rang for a fifth time, she began to get irritated.
"Hello?" she said with a hint of exasperation.
"Hi Grandma," came the response on the other end of the line. It was Sheldon, calling to thank his grandparents for all of their support over the years.
"We have a great family," Marguerite said with a smile.
Another member of that family is Wade Brookbank, Sheldon's older brother. Wade was also there to celebrate his younger brother's achievement and reflected on an amazing journey that took two brothers to the NHL - Wade appeared in 127 NHL games with four teams. "I knew before Sheldon did that he was going to make the NHL," Wade said. "I was in the league and he was better and more skilled than me, so it just made sense that he would make it."
And he did, though not right away. Both Brookbank brothers went undrafted and didn't appear in their first NHL games until they were 26.
After a fitful start to his career in Nashville and New Jersey, Sheldon finally found some stability, ending up in Anaheim during the 2008-09 season. He would play there for the next three seasons and post a career best +11 during the 2011-12 season. Just last summer the defenceman signed a two-year, $2.5 million contract with Chicago. According to his brother, ending up in the Windy City was a bit unexpected.
"I had heard from Mike Babcock and Detroit that they were interested in Sheldon and I told them he'd love to play there," Wade said. "So July 1 [the first day of free agency] comes around and Sheldon calls me in the morning. I'm still thinking about Detroit, but he said, 'Chicago made me an offer and I think it's the best one I'm going to get so I'm taking it.'"
Needless to say, the decision to sign with the talented but young Blackhawks paid off in spades for the 32-year-old Lanigan native.
A little over a year after that conversation with his older brother, Sheldon was taking what seemed like an endless string of pictures. He was shaking hands and kissing babies like a seasoned politician. The only signs of distress came from the heat; it was stifling in the rink and Sheldon was wearing his Blackhawks jersey. Every so often he'd walk off to the side and cool down next to a fan, but only for a few seconds; the people were waiting.
One of those people was Allan Garrioch, a 13-year-old who came from Porcupine Plains to take a picture with Sheldon and the Cup.
"It was exciting, very exciting," Garrioch said.
The feeling of excitement coursed through the huge crowd, many of whom were wearing Blackhawks shirts, jerseys and hats. It was certainly the event of the summer, if not the year.
Marguerite sat against a back wall, only about 100 feet from her grandson. She watched as he took picture after picture. Thinking back to that great night in June and Sheldon's accomplishment, she couldn't help but feel proud.
"I get goosebumps every time I think about it," she said.
