Hundreds of fans gather to watch Kitchener Rangers win Memorial Cup

As the Kitchener Rangers returned home, a group of fans was waiting to celebrate their Memorial Cup win. CTV’s Karis Mapp reports.

They may not have been able to fly out to B.C. to watch the Kitchener Rangers’ win the Memorial Cup in person, but hundreds of fans didn’t let distance stop them from celebrating the big victory.

Dressed in their best blue, red and white, the faithful gathered at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium on Sunday evening for a watch party.

“Christian Humphries put that last puck in the empty net, and it was like, the brain clicked in that it was going to happen, but the heart didn’t fully believe it yet,” said Justin Born, co-host of The AudPod, who was at the Aud for the win.

“We all wanted to be together in that historic building to cheer and yeah, shed a tear. There was some welling up at one point for sure,” added Andrew Merrigan, the podcast’s other host.

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The watch party at the Aud was captured as part of the official broadcast.

“The fans, they just know everything about this team and that’s what makes them, I say crazy, in the most loving way possible,” said Born.

Fans out west

Many Rangers fans made the trip to British Columbia to cheer on their Blueshirts including the parents of Rangers’ captain Cameron Reid.

“Before the game, we had a [fan] group photo set up and it was kind of publicized through various social media streams and so on,” recalled Reid’s father Bill.

“I really thought we were going to get there and maybe there would be like 80 people or something like that. We show up and there’s just hundreds of people that came for it.”

He added that the Rangers had many people cheering for them who originally were supporting the home team of the tournament, but switched over to blue and red for the final matchup.

“It wasn’t just our fans from Kitchener that were coming through, it was the Kelowna fans as well that seemed to be supportive of Kitchener,” Bill said.

Meanwhile, Reid’s mother Tanya Tilton-Reid told CTV News it was such a surreal moment to watch her son and his team claim the victory.

“It’s truly a dream come true for these boys,” she said while holding back tears. “It’s something that they have worked at since the moment that each of them joined the team.”

A warm welcome home

Shortly after on-ice celebrations wrapped up, the team wasted little time packing up and traveling back to Kitchener.

“I remember leaving the ice after celebrating with the players. We went out after and I then I received a text short after from Cam saying, ‘Hey, we’re on the plane’,” said Bill. “I thought, ‘Wow! How quickly they can get off the ice, get changed, get packed up and be on a plane’.”

The Rangers returned to a warm welcome at the Region of Waterloo International Airport. One of the team’s flags waved proudly along the runway.

The celebrations didn’t end there. Roughly 30 fans, including Rob Hoffman, were up bright and early to meet the athletes once they returned to the Aud.

“I went to the watch party and then everyone was talking about coming back. So I went home for a few hours, got some sleep and then turned around to come back at 4:30 in the morning to wait for the players,” said Hoffman.

Once they arrived, the coaches, team personel and players got off their bus to fans cheering them on.

“[Matthew] Andonovski brought the trophy off the bus and he had no shirt on and he raised it over his head. The fans were going crazy saying, ‘Let’s go Rangers’,” Hoffman said.

He even got a picture with the coveted trophy and Reid.

“They’re really nice guys. One big family that the Rangers are. They treat their fans well,” said Hoffman, while reliving the moment.

Reid’s mother Tanya said she was thrilled to hear the team was received in such a welcoming way, extending her thanks to the unwavering fans.

“Knowing that your child is so supported by everyone, it’s an amazing feeling and it just bring me to tears everytime I think about it,” Tilton-Reid said.