So, on Saturday afternoon on the outskirts of Columbus in a little ice cream shop with 16 parking spaces and a drive-thru, defenseman
Jack Johnson
turned the Stanley Cup over to his three children and their friends for a sloppy dessert they'll never forget.
Johnson, who won the Cup with the Colorado Avalanche, became an unrestricted free agent July 13.
"It was cool," Johnson said as he looked on while 6-year-old Jacklin; Ty, four; and Tommy, two, were among other eager kids inhaling ice cream covered in chocolate topping and whipped cream as onlookers took photos and videos inside Dell's Ice Cream and Coffee. "I promised my kids, gosh, I don't know long ago, that if I ever won, we'd eat ice cream out of the Stanley Cup.
"I made sure with the keepers here [of the Cup] if it was OK to eat ice cream out of it and they said, 'Yeah, have at it,' so I was able to keep my promise to the kids."
It was Johnson's second stop of the day with the Stanley Cup after lunch with family and friends at Hellas Carryout across the street from Dell's. Johnson carried the 34 1/2-pound trophy across Dublin Road from one destination to another.
The afternoon was designed for those closest to Johnson and his family and they headed to the Johnson home for a casual party after Dell's. Later Saturday, they had a bigger event planned for downtown Dublin as well as another Sunday.
"We frequent Hellas quite a lot and always drive the kids up to Dell's to get some ice cream, usually on the weekends," Johnson said. "So it just made sense to bring it to the places that we come to a lot and share with as many people as we can."
Dublin is a suburb northwest of Columbus best known as home of The Memorial tournament hosted by central Ohio native Jack Nicklaus at his Muirfield Village Golf Club.
Johnson's ties to the area go beyond his playing seven seasons for the Columbus Blue Jackets.
He lives in Dublin, the hometown of his wife, Kelly, whose older brother, Brady Quinn, is a former Notre Dame and Cleveland Browns quarterback now working as a football analyst for FOX Sports. Johnson's brother-in-law is former Ohio State and Green Bay Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk, who married Kelly's sister, Laura.
The Hawk family was in attendance and A.J. was beaming almost as much as Johnson, who is also his neighbor.
"It's awesome to see," Hawk said. "No one deserves it more than Jack."
He and Johnson had discussed, briefly, a while back what a day with the Stanley Cup would be like.
"We didn't want to jinx it, but we all started daydreaming and fantasizing what he would do with the Stanley Cup when it was his turn with the Cup," Hawk said. "He talked about having the kids eat ice cream out of it. I think the fact that it's here, I know Jack said a million times, 'I'm just pumped, everybody gets to be a part of this.'
"It's truly unique."
Johnson, 35, was selected by the Carolina Hurricanes with the No. 3 pick at the 2005 NHL Draft. After playing the 2005-06 season at the University of Michigan, he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings on Sept. 29, 2006. After another season at Michigan, he debuted with the Kings on March 29, 2007.
He was traded to the Blue Jackets on Feb. 23, 2012, for forward Jeff Carter and he missed out on the winning the Stanley Cup with the Kings in 2012 and 2014.
Johnson also played for the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers before signing a one-year contract with the Avalanche. He had nine points (one goal, eight assists) in 74 regular-season games and did not have a point in 13 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
In 16 NHL seasons, Johnson has 312 points (72 goals, 240 assists) in 1,024 regular-season games and 21 points (five goals, 16 assists) in 43 playoff games.
He said he is unsure about his future with the Avalanche.
"Honestly, I don't know yet," Johnson said. "I'd love to go back to Denver. There's conversations being had, but right now I'm just enjoying my day with the Cup and we'll see what happens."
