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Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published August 25, 2006

Detroit – Fr. Ron Babich says it was an "awesome experience" when the limousine pulled up at Our Lady Queen of All Saints Parish July 27 and Carolina Hurricanes hockey player Chad LaRose got out with the Stanley Cup.

"I hadn't seen Chad in a long time, and the first thing he did was give me a big bear hug," says Fr. Babich, pastor of the Fraser parish.

They had known each other for a long time. LaRose had been baptized by Fr. Babich as an infant and grew up in the parish, and his parents – Grant and Sandy LaRose – still belong to the parish.

Fr. Ron Babich, pastor of Our Lady Queen of All Saints Parish in Fraser, stands with Carolina Hurricanes player Chad LaRose at the parish's Marian shrine.

Fr. Babich says Lord Stanley's Cup is "magnificent " and that he considers it an honor to have been able to see it, but adds it was even more important that LaRose took the time to visit the Shrine of Our Lady Queen of All Saints and offer prayers of thanksgiving for the team's 2006 National Hockey League championship.

"I was asked by Chad to say a blessing and to bless the cup, Chad and all in attendance. This was very special for me, and most of all a special and great honor for this parish," Fr. Babich adds.

LaRose says it was only natural to bring the Stanley Cup to his old parish: "I was raised Catholic, and we always attended Queen of All Saints, and me and Fr. Babich have been friends for a long time.

"I put the cup in front of Mother Mary and hung out for about a half hour," said the rightwing for the Hurricanes.

His Catholic faith continues to play an important role in his life, and he now attends St. Raphael Church in Raleigh, N.C.

"I thank God for my blessings, and how He has blessed my whole family," LaRose says, adding that he'll also offer a prayer of thanks during games.

Sandy LaRose says she and her husband were happy when their son got called up to the Hurricanes as a rookie right-winger in December, but did not expect him to get very much time on the ice.

"We were excited that he got to play a little bit, but then he got to play a little more and a little more, and then he was on the ice winning the Stanley Cup," she says.

Chad LaRose, 24, played in four games of the seven-game championship series, and was on the ice in 21 of the 25 play-off games that preceded it.

Sandy LaRose says her son stuck to his aspirations to make it into the NHL despite many people telling him that – at 5 feet, 10 inches tall and 180 pounds – he was too small.

"But with a lot of prayer, and a lot of faith, and a lot of determination, he did it," she says.

Whenever the Stanley Cup travels it is accompanied by a guard, and the guard on duty that day was a Catholic from Hamilton, Ontario, Sandy LaRose says.

"He said it was the first time he had ever gone to a Catholic church with it, and he was pretty happy about it," she adds.