Tampa Bay Lightning’s Blake Coleman becomes first Texan to win Stanley Cup since 1994

Should Stanley Cup winner get an asterisk? Former goalie weighs in

SHARE

SHARE

TWEET

SHARE

EMAIL

Click to expand

UP NEXT

With his team ahead by one about halfway through a championship-clinching game, a Texas native buried a goal to put his childhood favorite team’s hopes of winning it’s first Stanley Cup in 21 years further out of reach.

Blake Coleman was born and raised in Plano. The Tampa Bay Lighting’s forward grew up a Dallas Stars fan, in parts thanks to his grandmother taking him to games as a child.

“He was inspired to play hockey because of the Stars. That’s the irony here,” Blake’s mother, Sandy Coleman, told the Athletic. “He was at their first Cup run in ’99 as a Stars-obsessed kid.”

The Stars won Monday 2-0. With Monday’s championship win, Coleman becomes the first Texas native since Brian Leetch to lift the Stanley Cup.

Leetch was born in Corpus Christi in 1968, but his family moved to Connecticut when Leetch was just 3-months-old. Leetch won the Stanley Cup with the New York Rangers in 1994 and in 2009, was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

© Perry Nelson, USA TODAY Sports Game 6: Tampa Bay Lightning center Blake Coleman (20) is surrounded by teammates after his second-period goal.

Coleman scored off a pass from Cedric Paquette at the 7:01 mark of the 2nd period. You can watch a replay of that moment here:

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Tampa Bay Lightning’s Blake Coleman becomes first Texan to win Stanley Cup since 1994