Players from Kitchener, Ont. claim major league sports victories in NHL, NBA

Nicholas Hague is a Stanley Cup champ The Kitchener, Ont. native was crowned a champ last night after the Las Vegas Golden Knights beat the Florid Panthers. Colton Wiens has more.

In the last two days, there have been two champions from Kitchener, Ont. to claim a franchise title in separate professional major league sports.

As of Tuesday night, Kitchener can now claim another National Hockey League (NHL) and, for the first time, a National Basketball Association (NBA) champion hailing from the city.

On Tuesday, Las Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Nicolas Hague joined a long list of Canadians to hoist the prized NHL Stanley Cup.

The 24-year-old pitted Vegas’ second goal in their 9-3 victory against the Florida Panthers in Game 5.

Hague was drafted by the Golden Knights in 2017, going as a second-round third pick. He was selected 34th overall, according to the NHL.

This is the first Stanley Cup the franchise has won since being incorporated into the league in 2017.

Hague’s victory comes the day after Jamal Murray became the ninth Canadian to win an NBA title as the Denver Nuggets defeated the Miami Heat in game 5 of the finals.

On Monday night, the 26-year-old scored 14 points with eight assists and eight rebounds.

The final score was 94-89 for the Nuggets, giving Denver its first championship title in franchise history.

When asked after the final game about recovering from an ACL injury sustained in 2021 to become a champion, Murray got emotional and said, "It's just an amazing feeling. Blood, sweat and tears to get back to this point. Everybody, my team in here, everybody on the floor believed in me to get back on the floor. I know we proved a lot of the doubters wrong."

Murray joins the exclusive list of Canadians who have won an NBA title, including Chris Boucher and Bill Wennington.

Canadian Andrew Wiggins joined the list last year when the Golden State Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics.

When asked post-game what he would tell his younger self, Murray said, "Keep putting in the work and everything would take care of itself."

-With files from Karis Mapp