Karpan brings Cup home to The Pas

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/11/2023 (1025 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Since the Las Vegas Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup on June 13, the historic trophy has visited more communities in our province than many residents have. The latest was a trip north to Flin Flon and The Pas on Oct. 17.

On the morning of that day, Golden Knights amateur scout Erin Ginnell took the Cup to schools in Creighton, Sask., just across the border and then to Flin Flon before ending up at the Whitney Forum, where so many players of note got their start.

If the surname Ginnell rings a bell with Manitoba hockey fans, Erin is the son of former Flin Flon Bombers player and head coach Paddy Ginnell. Although he was born in Medicine Hat, Erin spent his early years in Flin Flon and first skated in the Whitney Forum. His son Brad played for the Winnipeg Ice in 2019-20 and his son Riley played junior for the Brandon Wheat Kings between 2019-20 and 2022-23.

Bobby Clarke is the most famous Flin Flon product to win the Stanley Cup, which he did in 1974 and 1975 with the Philadelphia Flyers. As the Stanley Cup did not start touring around the world with members of the winning team until 1995, it is believed that this year’s visit was a first for Flin Flon. Erin’s brother Dan is an amateur scout with the St. Louis Blues, but he didn’t get to take the Cup anywhere when the Blues won in 2019.

Vaughn Karpan, the Golden Knights’ assistant general manager in charge of player personnel, had the Cup 100 miles south later in the day. Karpan was born in Flin Flon but grew up in The Pas, where he played minor hockey. His playing career took him to Brandon to play junior for the Wheat Kings, and then to the University of Manitoba. He also played for Canada in the 1984 and 1988 Winter Olympics. After his playing career ended, he scouted for the Winnipeg Jets, Phoenix Coyotes, and Montreal Canadiens before joining Las Vegas. He was inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame as a player in 2013.

While in his hometown, Karpan took to Cup across the Saskatchewan River bridge to the Gordon Lathlin Memorial Centre on the Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN), which the MJHL Blizzard called home from 1996 through this spring. (The Blizzard relocated to the Roy H. Johnston Arena for this season). In his youth, Karpan played hockey and baseball against boys from OCN. The current Blizzard members had a team photo taken with Karpan and the Cup.

Karpan invited Bruce Unfried, his bantam and midget hockey coach, to come north from Winnipeg to see the Cup. Unfried played minor hockey at Bronx Park Community Club and junior for the Winnipeg Monarchs and then went on to play at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., where he was also a student coach. After graduation, he moved to The Pas to work as a social worker and play for the intermediate Huskies. He was mayor of The Pas from 1980 to 1992.

Unfried said that Karpan’s speech stressed the importance of the help he received from people from both sides of the river while he was growing up. Unfried added that when Karpan was playing for Canada in the 1988 Olympics in Calgary, the media in The Pas had residents sign a list of support that was delivered to the local product by members of the community.

Unfried also visited with Murray Anderson at the celebration. The Pas-born defenceman made the NHL with the Washington Capitals after time in the AHL. In junior, he played a season with the Selkirk Steelers of the MJHL and three years under Paddy Ginnell when the Bombers were in a constant battle with the Winnipeg Jr. Jets in the late 1960s.The Bombers were a powerhouse in those days, featuring future NHLers Reggie Leach, Gerry Hart, and Lew Morrison alongside Anderson and Clarke.