Babies sat in it, young and old spectators alike gazed into its polished surface with wide eyes and open mouths. However, the coveted Stanley Cup was just a part of the excitement at Brantwood Park on Thursday afternoon.

The cup’s bearer and celebrity of the day was Old Ottawa East local and former Chicago Blackhawks left-winger Ben Eager, who scored the winning goal in Game 2 of the 2010 final.

Lifelong fan Sal Pelliccia, who came with his son, Sammy, 9, said he had been following every game of the “Original Six” NHL teams since he was a boy.

“Everybody’s a Blackhawks fan today,” said Pelliccia, who was born and raised in Ottawa. “As soon as we get to see that cup standing here, it’s going to be wild.”

He said he was hooked at age five after watching the Blackhawks win a game against the Montreal Canadiens. “I’ve cried with them and I’m finally crying happy tears with them,” he said.

Ottawa resident Randy Gammage, wearing a red Blackhawks jersey at the front of the crowd, said he had been waiting at the park since 9 a.m. to see Eager and the cup.

“I was the first one,” Gammage said. “I was scared this wasn’t the place.”

Just after 1 p.m., as the spectators eagerly lined the asphalt path leading to the park entrance, Eager rolled up over the curb, to cheers and applause, in a navy blue Cadillac Escalade.

After he unbuckled the cup from the back seat, the crowd exploded with excitement as he hoisted it aloft, sporting a white Blackhawks jersey, black shorts, black leather flip-flops and shades.

For Eager, it was a real homecoming, having spent much of his youth playing on the park’s outdoor boarded-in rink, a short walk from his former family home on Hazel Street and stomping grounds at Immaculata High School.

“Oh, I think some games we played out there were pretty intense,” Eager said with a laugh. “There’s a lot of good memories playing outdoor hockey with your buddies.”

Did it compare to playing in the National Hockey League?

“Winning the Stanley Cups is something I’ll never forget,” he said.

Eager’s mother, Rosemary Graves, said her son and his young friends used to be charged with cleaning the ice before they played.

“It’s just wonderful,” Graves said about Eager’s being back in the park. “I think it’s just really special for Ben.”

After he arrived, Eager took part in several presentations, including one from Mayor Larry O’Brien, who handed the NHLer a medallion for being an “agent of change.”

“Look what he brought to the city!” O’Brien said to the crowd as he stood next to Eager and the Stanley up.

“This is particularly great because this is the park you were playing at when you got the call to the NHL,” he said to Eager.

Capital Councillor Clive Doucet and Old Ottawa East community association members were also at the park.

“Ben Eager is part of that whole city rink process,” Doucet said. “The highest hockey accomplishment started right here.”

(Both O’Brien and Doucet are running for mayor in this fall’s election.)

Eager also had some words for the crowd.

“It’s a pretty special day to be able to bring the Stanley Cup back to share with you guys. I’m looking forward to enjoying the day and getting pictures with everyone here.”

He did pose, too under the shade of a nearby tree, Eager stood smiling, next to the shining cup. A line formed instantly, stretching across the park. Eager slung his arm around several young fans and held a tiny baby girl in a bright blue summer dress in the crook of his arm.

In between snapshots, Eager reached over barriers police had made with their bicycles to sign mini sticks and hockey cards sporting his image.

He spoke softly with fans who, one at a time, congratulated him on winning the playoffs and nudged him about that “wicked” Game 2 goal.

One of those who lined up was his former Grade 8 family-studies teacher, Karen Zappia.

She said she taught Eager “how to cook, how to make boxer shorts, and how to be a good father,” though she said she was not sure he had put those skills to good use … yet.

“He was a good kid. Quiet,” Zappia said.

Also among those to meet the player were aspiring NHL hopefuls, cousins Collin Olinik, 11, Tyler Olinik, 8, Theo Collins, 11, and Ben Collins, 8. Each showed off pieces of paper with Eager’s hastily Sharpied signature.

“It must be really awesome to win the Stanley Cup,” Ben said.

The four had been sprung by parents from hockey camp at the Jim Durrell Recreation Centre for the encounter. The boys said they had played on Eager’s old rink at Brantwood and had their own goals of one day getting called up by NHL teams. “That’s my dream,” Theo said.

At 3 p.m., after two hours of meeting with fans, Eager walked down the line so the fans still waiting could at least catch a glimpse, before retreating to a small park building.

He and the silverware met privately with campers from Camp Trillium for children with cancer.

Finally, after a “keeper of the cup” fastened the trophy’s seatbelt in the back of its Cadillac chariot, Eager, who in late June was traded to the Atlanta Thrashers, drove off to spend the rest of the day with friends and family, his mother said. A party was planned at the home of an aunt and uncle.

As for the four young cousins, with time still left to sharpen their skills, Theo Collins said it was “back on the ice” for the afternoon.