In life, it's important to have dreams. To dream big, in fact.
Nick Bonino had a dream. The Pittsburgh Penguins forward told his mom about it.
"Nick would say, 'If we ever win the Stanley Cup, we're eating pasta out of it,'" his mother Joanne told the Hartford Courant's Jeff Jacobs.
Well, Bonino's dream came true Thursday. He and his grandparents, who are both in their 90s, ate pasta out of the Cup. Tuna fish with angel hair, if you were wondering. Secret family recipe.
Jacobs chronicled Bonino's day with the Cup, and the quote Bonino's mother remembered - "If we ever win ..." - provides a window into the character of the 28-year-old. Bonino didn't win the Cup - his entire family did. His hometown did. His boarding school, Avon Old Farms, did.
An estimated 5,000 people showed up at Avon Old Farms to celebrate the Cup with Bonino, an experience he called "very humbling." Yet after a miracle playoff run - in which Bonino had four goals and 18 points in 24 games and became an internet sensation thanks to Hockey Night Punjabi's "Bonino! Bonino! Bonino!" calls of his goals - it's watching his grandparents enjoy the Cup that will stay with him forever.
"I think that's the one memory I will cherish the most," he said. "My nana and poppa kissing the Cup and eating pasta out of it is something I will never forget."
How could he?
Family and big dreams. That's what Bonino's all about.
"I dreamt of it. It's tough to think of it as reality."
