Stanley Cup takes spotlight at Amerigol LATAM Cup

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. --The Stanley Cup paid a visit to the Amerigol LATAM Cup Thursday, and Franco Molina couldn't have been happier.

Molina, an off-ice trainer for Chile in the four-day Latin American/Caribbean tournament that began Thursday at the Florida Panthers IceDen, was all smiles posing next to the Cup.
"I'm real excited the Cup is here because I didn't know it was supposed to be here," he said. "I love the [Detroit] Red Wings, so seeing those names on the Cup is just amazing. I can't describe how I feel."
LATAM Cup attendees made their way to a gym inside the IceDen, where the Stanley Cup was on display for most of the afternoon and patiently waited in line to get a moment with a championship trophy they never imagined they would see in person.

"I think it's incredible," said Antonio Pieschon, a forward on Colombia's Under-16 boy's team. "Living in Colombia, there's not much ice hockey. Coming to the Florida Panthers IceDen is incredible, seeing the Cup, much more incredible."
Shawn Thornton, the Panthers chief commercial officer, watched the LATAM Cup participants watching the Stanley Cup and beamed. His name is on the Cup twice, having won it as a forward with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007 and Boston Bruins in 2011.
He said watching the fans' reaction to the Cup, no matter what country they're from, never gets old.
"You see a lot of smiling faces, a lot of people I don't even know they believe it's actually here," said Thornton, who scored 102 points (42 goals, 60 assists) in 705 NHL games with the Chicago Blackhawks, Ducks, Bruins and Panthers. "A lot of shock and awe, which is great to see."

More than 500 players on 29 teams representing Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Jamaica, Lebanon, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela are participating in the tournament, which continues through Sunday.
Many of the players came directly from the countries they're representing. Some are ex-pats who live and play hockey in the United States and Canada.
Juan Diaz, the secretary general of the Colombia Ice Hockey Federation and a player on its Division II team, saw the Stanley Cup at its home in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto 10 years ago. But that didn't diminish his excitement about seeing it at the LATAM Cup.
"We're trying to promote hockey in Latin America," he said. "To see the most iconic trophy in the sport, of course there's the Olympics or the world championships, but the NHL is the NHL. All the best players are there. So to be near the Cup that the best players want to win, it's awesome. It gets the kids excited."