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Avalanche's Jack Johnson baptizes children in Stanley Cup

One of the great traditions in the NHL allows for each member of the championship team to spend a day with the Stanley Cup during the offseason. Instead of throwing a wild party during his time with the trophy, Colorado Avalanche defenseman Jack Johnson opted to use it for religious purposes.

Thanks to some divine timing, Johnson was able to baptize his three children in Lord Stanley's mug earlier this month. The baptism date was planned before the playoffs, so things couldn't have lined up any better.

The religious ceremony wasn't the only item on the agenda that day, as the 35-year-old took his family for celebratory ice cream with the kids enjoying a giant sundae directly out of the bowl of the Cup.

Being baptized in the greatest trophy in sports could help propel Johnson's children to athletics glory — not that they need any more help. In addition to having an NHL player as their father, their mother's side of the family includes former NFLers A.J. Hawk and Brady Quinn and Olympic gymnastics medalist Alicia Quinn.

This isn't the first time the Stanley Cup has been used for a baptism. Sylvain Lefebvre famously started the trend when the Avalanche won in 1996. Detroit Red Wings forward Tomas Holmstrom let his cousin use the trophy for a baptism in 2008, and Josh Archibald followed suit in 2017 after the Pittsburgh Penguins won.

Jack Johnson used his day with the Stanley Cup for religious purposes. (Photo taken by Kelly Johnson, via @Peter_Baugh/Twitter)
Jack Johnson used his day with the Stanley Cup for religious purposes. (Photo taken by Kelly Johnson, via @Peter_Baugh/Twitter)

Johnson tallied nine points in 74 regular season games with Colorado last season, then went pointless in 13 playoff games on the way to his first career Stanley Cup.

In 16 NHL seasons split between the Los Angeles Kings, Columbus Blue Jackets, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers and Avalanche, Johnson has 72 goals and 240 assists for 312 points in 1,024 games.

The Indiana native is currently an unrestricted free agent, coming off a one-year, $750,000 contract he signed with Colorado after being invited to training camp on a professional tryout.

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