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When Carolina Hurricanes left winger Taylor Hall lifted the Stanley Cup on Sunday night in Las Vegas, Nev., in the stands cheered on his Windsor, Ont., billet parents.
Hall was born in Calgary, Alta., and his family later moved to Kingston.
Since he was from out of town, he needed billet parents to stay with after being drafted to play in the Ontario Hockey League by the Windsor Spitfires in 2007.
He was assigned to the Hughes family.
Windsor Morning11:35Taylor Hall’s billet parents from his Windsor Spitfires days celebrate Stanley Cup win
During his two seasons in Windsor, Hall’s Spitfires won back-to-back Memorial Cup titles, junior hockey’s top prize.
From there he was catapulted directly into the NHL after being the first overall pick by the Edmonton Oilers in 2010. He’s played for a total of seven teams during his 16-year career.
Since Hall lived with them, Ryan and Terri Hughes have maintained a close connection to Hall, seeing him play many times including Sunday’s Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final in Las Vegas where he scored the championship clinching goal.
“It was complete magic to be able to share that with his family and friends and watch him realize that dream lifting that Stanley Cup was just incredible,” Terri told CBC Radio’s Windsor Morning Thursday. “I screamed.”
The couple said they were able to meet up with Hall and his family and “lots of hugs” followed.
Being on the ice with Hall and looking up at the stands was a “surreal experience”, the couple said.
During a trip in North Carolina’s capital city, Ryan said they were able to spend time with Hall and his kids doing “normal everyday family things”. He said he golfed with Hall and Hurricanes’ Shayne Gostisbehere and Eric Robinson.
The couple said they are probably Hall’s biggest fans in Windsor and remember the hockey star’s journey with the Spitfires.
“He was super easy to have in the house and we just loved having a safe space for him to just come home and relax,” Terri said.
“So his pre-game meal back in the day was salmon and asparagus. And he still does that. And he said his teammates give him the gears about it.”
For Ryan, the sentimental highlight in the Raleigh trip was getting his Hurricane’s cap signed by Hall.
“Just before we left, I said to him, I want you to put on here something that during the game you want us to think about. He put, believe it, hungry,” he said, holding back tears.
“And then his little guy Stetson, the way he says the word OK, so he put that OK on there as well.”
Now, wearing that cap has become the game day routine for the Windsor family. When Carolina gets behind, Ryan said he puts his cap on and it seems to work every time for the team’s benefit.
The couple said during Hall’s Windsor days, they tried to create a safe space for him where he can just come home and relax and be a kid.
“He wasn’t really able to ever be a kid, really, because he always had so much going on in his life and so many people wanting him all the time,” she said.
The 34-year-old Hall helped the Hurricanes win 16 of 19 games during this playoff run.
“You never know what kind of turn your life’s going to take,” Hall said after hoisting the trophy Sunday.
“It was heavy. It was heavy, unbalanced but amazing,” he added.
Over the years, the couple have billeted three players. But after Hall, they decided not to billet again.
“These kids come into your life and you watch them grow and mature into men when they leave,” Terri said.
“It was too emotional for me.”
But Hall ended up convincing them of the importance of a great home for emerging players and the couple went on to billet more players like Brady Vail and Slater Koekkoek.
Now, they hope to keep attending Hall’s games in the future and want him to win another Stanley Cup next year.
“We love to get on the road and go watch him play and cheer him on.”
