McCrimmon pays tribute to his brother on his day with the Cup

Kelly McCrimmon’s day with the Stanley Cup was particularly emotional.

The Golden Knights general manager took the trophy to Brandon, Man., and took the opportunity to take a photo with the banner honoring his brother, Brad, a former forward who played 1,200 NHL games and who tragically died in 2011 when the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv plane he was managing crashed after takeoff.

McCrimmon’s return to the Keystone Centre, home of the Western Hockey League’s Brandon Wheat Kings, made perfect sense, since both brothers played with the club in the 1970s as players. Then in 1989-90, Kelly became head coach and general manager of the team, before buying the franchise partially in 1992 and then completely in 2001. He remained with the Wheat Kings until 2016, when he made the jump to the Golden Knights.

Each time the Wheat Kings have won the Ed Chynoweth Cup, the WHL playoff championship, it has been with Kelly on the team: once as a player (1979) and twice as general manager (1996, 2016). And now the people of Brandon can celebrate again, as Kelly brings another trophy back to town: the Stanley Cup.