Montreal Canadiens player from Brandon, Man., cheered on by parents

WINNIPEG -

Montreal Canadiens' defenceman Joel Edmundson is off to his second Stanley Cup final in three years, and no one's cheering harder for him than his parents in Brandon, Man.

"We're thrilled for Joel, the team, and for all the fans in Montreal," said Lois Edmundson, Joel's mom. "And yeah, it's pretty crazy, but yeah, we're thrilled to see where he is, but it's every child, every hockey player's dream."

Edmundson won his first championship with the Saint Louis Blues in 2019, bringing the Stanley Cup home to western Manitoba.

"2019 was number one, so that’s going to have a special place in everyone's hearts and mine. To have the opportunity to play for the cup again this year with the potential to win it, I'll explain that after I experience it because I don't know what's going to happen," said Bob Edmundson, Joel's father.

Joel Edmundson signed a four-year contract with the Habs, his dad's lifelong favourite team, in September.

It's been an interesting ride," said Bob. "It's quite a thrill when he signed with them earlier in the year."

On Thursday, Edmundson helped the Canadiens punch their ticket to the cup final with a thrilling overtime win against the Las Vegas Golden Nights.

The defenceman, who tallied an assist in the series clinching game, celebrated the win with his parents over FaceTime.

"It was kind of cool because when he first established the call with us, he was in the dressing room. And he took his camera and fanned the room. And then he got in a quiet area that he could actually hear us. And then the GM, Marc Bergevin, photobombed him while he was talking to us, so that was pretty cool," said Bob.

The Habs head down to Tampa Bay to face the Lightning in game one on Monday, trying to become the first Canadian team to lift the cup since 1993.

The Edmundsons say all Manitobans are welcome to hop on board the bandwagon.

"It's exciting and we are going to enjoy this as we can," said Bob. I think we appreciate everyone that has cheered for Joel in his career. And I know being out here in Brandon, there's a lot of Jets fans, and they are cheering for Joel.

-With files from CTV's Danny Halmarson