The latest entry into the trainers’ wing of the Hockey Hall of Fame is like all southern Albertans over the age of 25, he will never forget May 25, 1989 — the day the Calgary Flames won their lone Stanley Cup.

Jim ‘Bearcat’ Murray sips from the Stanley Cup in 1989 after the Calgary Flames beat the Canadiens in Montreal.

Not only did Jim “Bearcat” Murray earn a Stanley Cup ring as trainer of the Flames when Calgary beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 in Game 6 of the finals in Montreal he also received a scolding from a pilot.

The day started routinely enough — as routine as a day can be when you are trying to win a Stanley Cup.

“The first thing I did was help get things set up for the players, making Gatorade and stuff,” Murray said. “And Crispy (Flames head coach Terry Crisp) would come by and ask me before every game ‘who would you sit out?’

“I told him that day: ‘I’m not going to tell you who to sit out, but I’m telling you, you have to play Lanny. You play Lanny and we win the game.’”

Crisp decided to dress Lanny McDonald, who went on to score the second goal in the Flames’ Cup-winning victory. It was McDonald’s last goal of what was a Hall-of-Fame career.

The Flames celebrated their Stanley Cup victory at the Forum in Montreal (the only visiting team to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup in the Forum) but then it was time to get a flight back to Calgary.

Allan Murray, Bearcat’s son and an assistant trainer with the Flames, took the Stanley Cup to the airport. Of course, before loading it on the plane, some of the workers wanted to see hockey’s Holy Grail.

“Allan told them, it was locked up in this box and they said ‘We can take care of that.’ So they got bolt cutters and opened up the box.”

The younger Murray got on the plane, and sought out his dad’s advice about letting the airline employees see the trophy. When Bearcat asked his son where the Cup was he replied, “It’s in the can.”

After the airport employees broke open the Stanley Cup’s protective case, Allan hid the Cup in the plane’s washroom.

“Allan went and talked to Lanny and told him the story and Lanny said: ‘For crying out loud, let’s get it out here.

“So they went back to the washroom, got it out and everybody started whooping’ and hollerin’,” said Murray. “There was the Stanley Cup right in our laps.”

Of course, such a rare moment had to be captured on film and everyone gathered at the back of the plane for a team photo with the Cup.

“Everybody rushed to the back of the plane for this team picture, and the pilot came on and said. ‘What the heck is going on back there?’

“Get the heck back up front. You’re making it tough to keep the plane in the air.”

The plane landed safely and Bearcat’s son didn’t need to worry.

“Allan became an instant hero for making such good plans.”

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