Thank you, Dave Bolland, for your Stanley Cup parade.

Mimico had a blast. So what do you say, same time next year?

“For sure, that’s what we want,” said Bolland, with the Cup at his feet. “When we (the Maple Leafs) go into camp, that’s what we go for. That’s what we’re working towards. The Stanley Cup. We’re striving for that.”

Gallery : Dave Bolland brings the Stanley Cup to Mimico

Through chants of “Bolland, Bolland” and “Go Leafs Go,” the new Maple Leafs forward paraded the Stanley Cup through the Toronto neighbourhood where he grew up.

It is, of course, the Cup he won as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks , scoring the winning goal in Game 6.

Riding the back of a fire truck — but not wearing a hockey jersey of any colour — he stopped to pose for photographs and sign autographs at the parade, finishing at a park where fans could take pictures of hockey’s greatest trophy.

“Awesome,” said Manda Normore. “It’s probably the only time the Cup’s going to be in Toronto.”

“It’s great to have a local celebrity in our midst,” said Denise Russell, clutching her camera. “Seeing the Cup was fantastic.”

The Mimico crowd was filled with Leaf fans, whose team hasn’t won the Cup since 1967, and peppered with fans wearing Blackhawks jerseys.

The parade down Mimico Avenue drew a crowd of about 2,000 along with politicians — Mayor Rob Ford and local councilors — who weren’t shy about getting in on the spotlight.

Each member of the Cup-winning team gets to spend at least one day with the trophy. Bolland did the same thing in 2010 — parade through Mimico — when the Hawks won then. The crowd was bigger this time, partly because of the weather, partly because of the curiosity of seeing a Leaf carrying the Stanley Cup.

Bolland’s hockey dreams began in Mimico Arena, where he scored real goals but imagined them all to be Stanley Cup winners. That’s where Thursday’s parade began.

“Being in this rink, trying to score, trying to get that game-winner as always,” said Bolland. “It’s part of my childhood.”

The former Blackhawk and now Maple Leaf first understood how possible it is for a kid from Mimico to win the Cup, when in on a July night in 1997 Brendan Shanahan brought it to the Blue Goose Tavern, a local watering hole.

It was a low-key event that night, no media, just the locals in the small pocket of Toronto that has an everyone-knows-everyone feel. Bolland, just 11 at the time, heard about it.

“Me and a good buddy went there, snuck in the back and got a photo,” said Bolland. “It was a fun day. My parents still have the picture.”

Bolland did his best to pass the magic along on Thursday. He started in London, where he now lives, then paraded through Mimico and made appearances all over the south Etibocoke neighbourhood, including a stop at Councillor Mark Grimes’ backyard.

But the Cup’s last stop on Bolland’s day was planned — on purpose — at the Blue Goose.

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“Having some fun today, trying to enjoy it,” said Bolland. “It’s great to bring it back and have fun with the crowd. Whenever we bring the Cup, it’s always a good time. It’s a bunch of hardworking people who like to have fun.”