GALLERY: Stanley Cup champ shares victory with hometown fans

It was an afternoon Michael Amadio won't soon forget.

The Sault Ste. Marie native and Vegas Golden Knights champion spent Wednesday at the GFL Memorial Gardens taking pictures and signing autographs for the hundreds of locals who lined up to get a look at the Stanley Cup.

He fondly remembers being one of those eager young fans waiting for his turn to take a photo with the Cup.

“I remember when Tyler Kennedy brought it here in 2009, and I was one of those kids out there,” he says. “To be able to do that today for everyone else in the community is an awesome feeling and something I’ll never forget.”

“Just driving in, I saw the whole lineup of people, and I heard they were lining up all morning so it’s awesome to see all that support.”

Amadio was joined by his family, friends, and dignitaries for a social prior to raising and kissing the Cup for some fans inside the Gardens. 

Upwards of 2,000 residents were estimated to have come out to support their hometown hockey hero.

“I think it’s starting to sink in today,” he told SooToday. “It didn’t really feel real at first, but as time passes on each day, it starts to sink in a little bit more. It’s an amazing feeling.”

Amadio, 27, was a recent guest on Village Media’s Inside the Village podcast, where he reminisced about hoisting the Cup for the first time, a very special phone call he made from the ice — and what it was like to be a young hockey player growing up in the Sault.

You can watch the full interview HERE.