Travel issues have impacted Kyle Okposo's chance to have his day with the Stanley Cup.
The 36-year-old had an event planned at Pagel Arena in Minnetonka, Minn., Friday morning where fans would be able to take photos with Okposo and the Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, those plans changed after travel issues involving the Stanley Cup.
Throughout the U.S. flights are being grounded because of the global IT outage affecting airlines, which has kept the Stanley Cup in St. Louis after Matthew Tkachuk got his day with the trophy Thursday.
“I’m crushed,” Okposo told Michael Russo of the Athletic, which reported that they are trying to get the Cup to the long-time NHL veteran so that he can have it himself.
Okposo finally got his chance to lift the Cup 18 years after being drafted when the Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
The Panthers acquired Okposo from the Buffalo Sabres at the trade deadline, giving him one more shot at ending his career with the trophy that has long eluded him.
The 37-year-old Okposo entered the matchup with 1,051 career games under his belt and 40 playoff appearances. He'd made 24 post-season appearances with New York but never got past the second round.
Okposo was one of the first ones to touch the Cup after captain Aleksander Barkov received it. He smiled as he clasped his hands around the cup, and his teammates cheered him on, each of them understanding how long it took for him to get there.
--with files from the Associated Press
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