Centerville grad crashed Penguins’ Cup party

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By Sean McClelland, Staff Writer Updated 2:42 PM Monday, August 3, 2009

Years from now, as the Pittsburgh Penguins reminisce about their Stanley Cup championship of 2009, you can imagine one of them looking at pictures from the Game 7 aftermath and saying, “Who’s that guy?”

Chances are the mystery man will be Ryan Kraft, a Washington Twp. resident and lifelong Penguins fan who took advantage of postgame delirium on June 12 to sneak into the winning locker room at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

He has about 40 photos to prove it, including one of him hoisting the Cup and another with Penguins owner Mario Lemieux, his hero. He even got Lemieux to autograph a champagne bottle.

A 32-year-old salesman for the water treatment company RainSoft, Kraft is the leading scorer in Centerville High School hockey history, tallying 343 points from 1992-96. He captained the club hockey team at Wright State, graduating in 2004.

This Penguins devotion comes from his father, attorney Michael Kraft, who educated Ryan about the great Lemieux at an impressionable age. Recently, at the suggestion of his 7-year-old nephew, Akaius, Ryan honored the team’s current superstar by naming one of his dogs Sidney, the other Crosby.

In his words

“After the game, me and my buddies, Brian Fisher and P.J. Paslosky, moved down a little closer to take some pictures. As we’re shooting, the Penguins are skating around with the Cup, then taking a team photo. At this point, family members are let onto the ice.

“So I go over in position where a family member might be, and after about 15 minutes, (defenseman) Philippe Boucher skates over and points to the guy in front of me. When that guy raises his hand, I raise mine. The security guard sees both of us, opens the door and everyone just assumes I’m a relative.

“Once on the ice, it’s open season. I have access to the tunnel back to the locker room and it’s just a big celebration — players everywhere, hanging out, playing music and spraying champagne.

“A couple players pick me up and swing me around. I’m spraying a bottle of champagne. Amazing.

“I’m in the hallway to the locker room and Lemieux is walking right toward me. My heart is racing, getting ready to pound out of my chest. I put my arm around him, put my camera out and snap the picture. That might be my favorite.

“I didn’t know if I had gotten the Cup picture. In the locker room, when the Cup was being passed around, I say to a guy, ‘You’ve got to get my picture with the Cup.’ But the red light on the camera is flashing. I kiss the Cup, put it above my head and the guy takes the picture just as the battery dies. I didn’t know I’d gotten it until I got back to Dayton at 7 in the morning. I was so relieved.

“It’s a great story. I won’t let it die. I take a couple of those pictures with me anywhere I go. It’s fun. What an amazing night, once in a lifetime. I’m glad it happened to me.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2408 or smcclelland@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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Way to go Ryan . . . that was definitely your 15 minutes !!!

Carol Pape
5:04 PM, 8/17/2009

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EXCELLENT! TOTALLY AWESOME! Even if you're a HUGE fan of the Stanley Cup winning team,the adrenalyn running rampant inside this "Huckster" must have been mind blowing,and nothing short of THE BIGGEST BUZZ IN HISTORY! I LOVE stuff like this,and to have actually pulled off this caper? It must have felt like he scored the O.T. goal that clinched the cup! Please take time to Remember Teeder Kennedy who passed on to Hockey Heaven at age 83. Thanks Ted! The Crumb family.

Crummer
10:53 PM, 8/16/2009

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Oh looky here. A Centerville grad cheating to gain an advantage. Typical. It explains all the years they beat Fairmont too I bet.

Go Firebirds!
11:56 AM, 8/12/2009

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If it were someone from a city school he would be getting riped on here.

Hypocrytes
1:42 AM, 8/12/2009

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Where are the pictures???

photo pete
7:27 PM, 8/11/2009

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