Nareg Dekermenjian had Mother's Day brunch with the Stanley Cup, which caused a little anxiety because no one could be sure what the hockey champion trophy liked to eat.

"I'm thinking about the full diet of Stanley Cup," Dekermenjian said, before a large corner stall at Stanley's Restaurant in Sherman Oaks (not related to the cup). “Other than that, I will be very, very disappointed.”

It turns out that the cup is fasting, so the plate in front is still empty. But then, the trophy was not the one awarded Sunday. Last week, he was named the winner of the NHL Future Goal Most Valuable Teacher Program, selected from 31 candidate fields in the league's 32 cities.

For fifth-grade teacher, who worked well as a financial advisor in the classroom four years ago, was honored by the Stanley Cup visit, which was a complete moment in several ways. First, it was a recognition of the role of hockey in helping him adapt to the new country, as his father, Edward, was a Lebanese jeweler who spoke only English and his three children could have a better chance of living when he left Beirut for the West Valley.

The youngest Dekermenjian was only 5 years old and he immediately struggled to adapt.

"Making friends or making some kind of connection with kids of my age, from another country, that's really different," he said. So one day, his mother Zovig pushed him open the door and played street hockey with some neighborhood kids.

“I’m glad I did,” Zovig said Sunday. It turns out that the game will change everything.

"They gave me a hockey stick and I fell in love with the sport immediately," Dekermenjian said. "I've never really been good at anything before, especially track and field. But I went to hockey.

“What it helped me do is create a lot of confidence and self-esteem, which helped me in a social situation.”

Dekermenjian continued to compete in multiple levels, becoming a Kings Season Ticket Holder, and now coaches his two sons on a concrete rink he built in his backyard. He also used hockey to break social and cultural barriers at Sherman Oaks’ Dixie Canyon Community Charter School, where many of the students, many of whom came from immigrant families of new Americans, were from new Americans.

"We have a melting pot here," said Assistant Principal Maria Silva.

But if all of these kids speak different languages, wear different clothes and pack different foods for lunch, they all understand sports. Even hockey.

"One hundred percent. That's why I do that," said Dekermenjian, 41.

There are similarities between the challenges faced by athletes and those faced by students. The perseverance and perseverance required to achieve this throughout the NHL season is necessary before the entire school year. Goals, wins, defeats and teamwork are available on the ice and in the classroom.

"It's tied to the dots that these kids aren't used to," Dekermenjian said. "In fact, when the team was shot down by multiple goals, I actually showed clips and videos of the hockey game, they didn't give up, and then they came back and they pulled the goalkeeper and they took it.

"I think it's a better way to start a meeting. Let these kids look at something so incredible and look at themselves and think, 'Do you know what? I can do that.'''

Silva said his parents were rarely asked to call him Mr. Deker in the request of Dixie Canyon. She often listens in class by herself just to listen.

"I was just attracted to the stories he shared. I didn't want to leave," she said. "I also want to be a kid and listen to him. When they announced that he won the (NHL Award), I definitely felt they were doing it right."

However, these stories don't always work. When they are not like good coaches, when they are not like a good coach, change his game plan - just like he did in his first year as a teacher after welcoming a shy Ukrainian girl Maria.

“We are covering our history, and I thought, ‘What does this kid need to know about the Constitution?’ We need to teach more important lessons,” he said.

Maria loves art, so Dekermenjian asks her to draw every day, and then after class he and a translator discuss the meaning of what she attracts. She soon thrives in a new environment.

Dekermenjian said that when children struggle, the problem is usually not the student, but the engagement issue with the teacher.

“Educators, we need to strengthen it and engage in it in a non-traditional way,” he said.

"I've seen it work in the classroom. So I've done more and more, and the feedback has been overwhelming. I've created a bunch of hockey fans and Kings fans in the process, so I think everyone wins."

Speaking of Kings, this is the second reason Sunday is the party with the Stanley Cup. He first encountered the trophy in 2014, when he was placed in front of his wife Lori and then son Ian, who was actually attributed to his existence.

During the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs, Lori came to Dekermenjian and suggested that if the Kings win the Cup, they should have a kid. Dekermenjian, not sure if he was ready to be a father, but certainly the King had no chance to win the NHL championship, agreed--a year later, Ian was born. Since then, they have added a son, Oliver.

"It's a complete thing," he said.

"I definitely feel like I've discovered where I need to live. I'm 100% sure I should have taught."

The NHL agreed on Sunday, giving him an afternoon with the Stanley Cup to prove it.