Carolina Hurricanes' Goalie And Stanley Cup Winner, Brandon Bussi, Brings Cup Home To Long Island

HAUPPAUGE, NY – It was a real welcome home.

Carolina Hurricanes' goalie Brandon Bussi, a Miller Place grad and Sound Beach native who was instrumental in the team winning the Stanley Cup in June, was welcomed back to Long Island Wednesday morning to a very special place for him.

As a youngster in youth hockey, he first put on his goalie pads at Rinx in Hauppauge, and that is where he decided he would be.

Bussi was welcomed by a cheering crowd by a host of Suffolk County officials, including Executive Ed Romaine, Sheriff Errol Toulon, District Attorney Ray Tierney, and Deputy Police Commissioner Belinda Groneman, not to mention his family, and old friends from the rink.

And, the towering silver cup was placed on display for members of the public to take photos.

Wednesday was also proclaimed "Brandon Bussi Day" by Romaine to recognize the championship, and he was presented with proclamations marking the achievement.
Bussi described the moment as surreal.

"Bing able to come back to the place where I strapped on my pads for the first time with loved ones, seeing a lot of old faces, old coaches, old teammates, the youth hockey community as a whole out here, to support me and be able to celebrate this moment with me is very special," he said. "And, thank you all to all you guys for coming out."

Rinx's owner said it was a pleasure to have Bussi back at the rink and to show "what a class act this gentleman is."

"The first thing he wanted to do was go on to the North Rink where he first stepped on it the first day he put his pads on, and to have all the kids around him," he said. "He's still a kid at heart. We love him, and thank you very much for coming back."

Chris Vaccaro from the Suffolk County Sports Hall of Fame presented Bussi with the first ever Suffolk County Sports Person of the Year award for all he has done "to represent our country, our island, and the game we love," and thanked him for making the region "proud."

Vaccaro said he believes that one day Bussi will be inducted into the organization.

"He's got a great career ahead of him," he said.