Stanley Cup
Encyclopedia
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey
club trophy
, awarded annually to the National Hockey League
(NHL) playoffs
champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals
. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously (chiefly by sportswriters) as Lord Stanley's Mug. The Stanley Cup is surrounded by numerous legends and traditions
, the oldest of which is the celebratory drinking of champagne out of the cup by the winning team. Unlike the trophies awarded by the other three major professional sports leagues
of North America, a new Stanley Cup is not made each year; winners keep it until a new champion is crowned. It is unusual among trophies, in that it has the names of all of the winning players, coaches, management, and club staff engraved on its chalice
. The original bowl was made of silver and is 18.5 centimetres (7.28 inches) in height and 29 centimetres (11.42 inches) in diameter. The current Stanley Cup, topped with a copy of the original bowl, is made of a silver and nickel alloy
; it has a height of 89.54 centimetres (35.25 inches) and weighs 15.5 kilograms (34.5 lb / 2 st 6½ lb).
Originally inscribed the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, the trophy was donated in 1892 by then-Governor General of Canada
the Lord Stanley of Preston
, as an award for Canada's top-ranking amateur ice hockey club. It was given for the first time in 1893
to Montreal HC
. In 1915, the two professional ice hockey organizations, the National Hockey Association
(NHA) and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association
(PCHA), reached a gentlemen's agreement
in which their respective champions would face each other for the Stanley Cup. After a series of league mergers and folds, the Cup became the de facto championship trophy of the NHL in 1926. The Cup became the de jure NHL championship prize in 1947.
Since the 1914–15 season, the Cup has been won a combined 94 times by 17 active NHL teams and five defunct teams. Prior to that, the challenge cup was held by nine different teams. The Montreal Canadiens
have won the Cup a record 24 times. The Stanley Cup was not awarded in 1919
because of a Spanish flu
epidemic, and in 2005, as a consequence of the NHL lockout
.
After Lord Stanley of Preston
was appointed by Queen Victoria
as Governor General of Canada
on June 11, 1888, he and his family became highly enthusiastic about ice hockey. Stanley was first exposed to the game at Montreal
's 1889 Winter Carnival, where he saw the Montreal Victorias
play the Montreal Hockey Club
. The Montreal Gazette reported that he "expressed his great delight with the game of hockey and the expertise of the players". During that time, organized ice hockey in Canada was still in its infancy and only Montreal
and Ottawa
had anything resembling leagues.
Stanley's entire family became active in ice hockey. Two of his sons, Arthur and Algernon, formed a new team called the Ottawa Rideau Hall Rebels
. Arthur also played a key role in the formation of what later became known as the Ontario Hockey Association
(OHA), and would go on to be the founder of ice hockey in Great Britain. Arthur and Algernon persuaded their father to donate a trophy to be "an outward and visible sign of the hockey championship". Stanley sent the following message to the victory celebration held on March 18, 1892, at Ottawa's Russell Hotel
for the three-time champion Ottawa Hockey Club
:
Soon afterwards, Stanley purchased a decorative punch bowl
, made in Sheffield
, England, and sold by London silversmith
G. R. Collis and Company (now Boodle and Dunthorne Jewellers), for ten guineas
, equal to ten and a half pounds sterling, $48.67 US$, which is equal to $ today. He had the words "Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup" engraved on one side of the outside rim, and "From Stanley of Preston" on the other side.
Originally, Stanley intended that the Cup should be awarded to the top amateur hockey team in Canada, to be decided by the acceptance of a challenge from another team. He made five preliminary regulations:
Stanley appointed Sheriff John Sweetland and Philip D. Ross
(who would serve in his post an unsurpassed 56 years) as trustees of the Cup. Sweetland and Ross first presented the trophy in 1893 to the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association on behalf of the affiliated Montreal Hockey Club
, the champions of the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHAC), since they "defeated all comers during the late season, including the champions of the Ontario Association" (Ottawa). Sweetland and Ross also believed that the AHAC was the top league, and as first place finishers in the AHAC, Montreal was the best team in Canada. Naturally, the Ottawas were upset by the decision because there had been no challenge games scheduled and because the trustees failed to convey the rules on how the Cup was to be awarded prior to the start of the season.
As a result, the Cup trustees issued more specific rules on how the trophy should be defended and awarded:
Stanley never saw a Stanley Cup championship game, nor did he ever present the Cup. Although his term as governor general ended in September 1893, he was forced to return to England on July 15. In April of that year, his elder brother Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby
died, and Stanley succeeded him as the 16th Earl of Derby
.
to the Final because they were the only road team. On March 17, in the first ever Stanley Cup playoff game, the Montreal Hockey Club (Montreal HC) defeated the Montreal Victorias, 3–2. Five days later, in the first Stanley Cup Final game, Montreal HC beat the Ottawa Hockey Club
, 3–1.
In 1895, Queen's University was the first official challenger for the Cup, although it was controversial. The Montreal Victorias
had won the league title and thus the Stanley Cup, but the challenge match was between the previous year's champion, Montreal HC, and the university squad. The trustees decided that if the Montreal HC won the challenge match, the Victorias would become the Stanley Cup champions. The Montreal HC won the match 5–1 and their cross-town rivals were crowned the champions. The first successful challenge to the Cup came the next year by the Winnipeg Victorias
, the champions of the Manitoba Hockey League. On February 14, 1896, the Winnipeg squad defeated the champions 2–0 and became the first team outside the AHAC to win the Cup.
As the prestige of winning the Cup grew, so did the need to attract top players. Only nine months after winning the Cup, in March 1906, the Montreal Wanderers
pushed through a resolution at the annual meeting of the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association
(ECAHA) that would allow professional players to play alongside amateurs. Because the ECAHA was the top hockey league in Canada at the time, the Cup trustees agreed to open the challenges to professional teams. The first professional competition came one month later during the Wanderers' two-game, total goals challenge series, which they won 17 goals to 5.
The smallest municipality to produce a Stanley Cup champion team is Kenora, Ontario; the town had a population of about 4,000 when the Kenora Thistles
captured the Cup in January 1907. Aided by future Hall of Famers Art Ross
and "Bad" Joe Hall
, the Thistles defeated the Montreal Wanderers in a two-game, total goals challenge series. The Thistles successfully defended the Cup once, against a team from Brandon, Manitoba
. In March 1907, the Wanderers challenged the Thistles to a rematch. Despite an improved lineup, the Thistles lost the Cup to Montreal.
In 1908, the Allan Cup
was introduced as the trophy for Canada's amateurs, and the Stanley Cup started to become a symbol of professional hockey supremacy. In that same year, the first all-professional team, the Toronto Trolley Leaguers from the newly created Ontario Professional Hockey League
(OPHL), competed for the Cup. One year later, the Montreal HC and the Montreal Victorias, the two remaining amateur teams, left the ECAHA, and the ECAHA dropped "Amateur" from their name to become a professional league. In 1910, the National Hockey Association
(NHA) was formed. The NHA soon proved it was the best in Canada, as it kept the Cup for the next four years.
Prior to 1912, challenges could take place at any time, given the appropriate rink conditions, and it was common for teams to defend the Cup numerous times during the year. In 1912, Cup trustees declared that it was only to be defended at the end of the champion team's regular season.
(PCHA) challenged the NHA and Cup champion Toronto Blueshirts
. A controversy erupted when a letter arrived from the Stanley Cup trustees on March 17, that the trustees would not let the Stanley Cup travel west, as they did not consider Victoria a proper challenger because they had not formally notified the trustees. However, on March 18, Trustee William Foran stated that it was a misunderstanding. PCHA president Frank Patrick had not filed a challenge, because he had expected Emmett Quinn of the NHA to make all of the arrangements in his role as hockey commissioner, whereas the trustees thought they were being deliberately ignored. In any case, all arrangements had been ironed out and the Victoria challenge was accepted.
Several days later, trustee William Foran wrote to NHA president Emmett Quinn that the trustees are "perfectly satisfied to allow the representatives of the three pro leagues (NHA, PCHA and Maritime) to make all arrangements each season as to the series of matches to be played for the Cup." One year later, the NHA and the PCHA concluded a gentlemen's agreement
in which their respective champions would face each other for the Cup, similar to baseball
's World Series
, which is played between the American League
and National League
champions. Under the new proposal, the Stanley Cup Final series alternated between the East and the West each year, with alternating games played according to NHA and PCHA rules. The Cup trustees agreed to this new arrangement, because after the Allan Cup became the highest prize for amateur hockey teams in Canada, the trustees had become dependent on the top two professional leagues to bolster the prominence of the trophy. The PCHA's Vancouver Millionaires
won the first "formal" PCHA–NHA Cup Final, three games to zero in a best-of-five series.
After the Portland Rosebuds
, an American-based team, joined the PCHA in 1914, the trustees issued a statement that the Cup was no longer for the best team in Canada, but now for the best team in the world. Two years later, the Rosebuds became the first American team to play in the Stanley Cup Final. In 1917, the Seattle Metropolitans
became the first American team to win the Cup. After that season, the NHA dissolved, and the National Hockey League
(NHL) took its place.
In 1919
, the Spanish influenza epidemic forced the Montreal Canadiens and the Seattle Metropolitans to cancel their series, marking the first time the Stanley Cup was not awarded. The series was tied at 2–2–1, but the final game was never played because Montreal Manager George Kennedy and players Joe Hall
, Billy Coutu
, Jack McDonald, and Newsy Lalonde
were hospitalized with influenza. Hall died four days after the cancelled game, and the series was abandoned.
The format for the Stanley Cup Final changed in 1922, with the creation of the Western Canada Hockey League
(WCHL). Three leagues competed for the Cup: two league champions faced each other for the right to challenge the third champion in the final series. This lasted three seasons as the PCHA and the WCHL later merged to form the Western Hockey League (WHL) in 1925. After winning in the 1924–25 season, the Victoria Cougars
became the last team outside the NHL to win the Stanley Cup.
and Cooper Smeaton
to grant control of the Cup to the NHL, allowing the league to reject challenges from other leagues that may have wished to play for the Cup.
This agreement was amended on November 22, 1961, substituting the Governors of the International Hockey Hall of Fame
in Kingston, Ontario with the Committee of the Hockey Hall of Fame
in Toronto, Ontario as the group that would name the two Canadian trustees, if need be. In the 1970s, the World Hockey Association
sought to challenge for the Cup. The Trustees denied them the opportunity to do so.
The Cup was awarded every year until 2005, when a labour dispute between the NHL's owners and the NHL Players Association
(the union
that represents the players) led to the cancellation of the 2004–05 season. As a result, no Cup champion was crowned for the first time since the flu pandemic in 1919. The lockout was controversial among many fans, who questioned whether the NHL had exclusive control over the Cup. A website known as freestanley.com (since closed) was launched, asking fans to write to the Cup trustees and urge them to return to the original Challenge Cup format. Adrienne Clarkson
, then Governor General of Canada, alternately proposed that the Cup be presented to the top women's hockey team in lieu of the NHL season. This idea was so unpopular that the Clarkson Cup
was created instead. Meanwhile, a group in Ontario, also known as the "Wednesday Nighters", filed an application with the Ontario Superior Court, claiming that the Cup trustees had overstepped their bounds in signing the 1947 agreement with the NHL, and therefore must award the trophy regardless of the lockout.
On February 7, 2006, a settlement was reached in which the trophy could be awarded to non-NHL teams should the league not operate for a season. The dispute lasted so long that, by the time it was settled, the NHL had resumed operating for the 2005–06 season, and the Stanley Cup went unclaimed for the 2004–05 season.
To date, nine men have served as Trustees of the Stanley Cup:
Like the Grey Cup
, awarded to the winner of the Canadian Football League
, the Stanley Cup is engraved with the names of the winning players, coaches, management, and club staff. However, this was not always the case: one of Lord Stanley's original conditions was that each team could, at their own expense, add a ring to the Cup to commemorate their victory. Initially, there was only one base ring, which was attached to the bottom of the original bowl by the Montreal AAAs
. Clubs engraved their team names, usually in the form "TEAM NAME" "YEAR WON", on that one ring until it was full in 1902. With no more room to engrave their names (and unwilling to pay for a second band), teams left their mark on the bowl itself. The 1907 Montreal Wanderers
became the first club to record their name on the bowl's interior surface, and the first champion to record the name of every member of their team.
In 1908, for reasons unknown, the Wanderers, despite having turned aside four challengers, did not record their names on the Cup. The next year, the Ottawa Senators
added a second band onto the Cup. Despite the new room, the 1910 Wanderers and the 1911 Senators did not put their names on the Cup. The 1915 Vancouver Millionaires
became the second team to engrave players' names, this time inside the bowl along its sides.
The 1918 Millionaires eventually filled the band added by the 1909 Senators. The 1915 Ottawa Senators, the 1916 Portland Rosebuds
, and the 1918 Vancouver Millionaires all engraved their names on the trophy even though they did not officially win it under the new PCHA-NHA system. They had only won the title of the previous champion's league and would have been crowned as Cup champions under the old challenge rules. The winners in 1918, 1920 to 1923 did not put their winning team name on it.
No further engraving occurred until 1924, when the Canadiens
added a new band to the Cup. Since then, engraving the team and its players has been an unbroken annual tradition. Originally, a new band was added each year, causing the trophy to grow in size. The "Stovepipe Cup", as it was nicknamed because of its resemblance to the exhaust pipe of a stove, became unwieldy, so it was redesigned in 1948 as a two-piece cigar-shaped trophy with a removable bowl and collar. This Cup also properly honoured those teams that did not engrave their names on the Cup. Also included was 1918–19 No Decision Montreal Canadiens Seattle Metropolitans.
Since 1958, the Cup has undergone several minor alterations. The original collar and bowl were too brittle, and were replaced in 1963 and 1969, respectively. The modern one-piece Cup design was introduced in 1958, when the old barrel was replaced with a five-band barrel, each of which could contain 13 winning teams. Although the bands were originally designed to fill up during the Cup's centennial year, the names of the 1965 Montreal Canadiens were engraved over a larger area than allotted and thus there are 12 teams on that band instead of 13. When the bands were all filled in 1991, the top band of the large barrel was preserved in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and a new blank band was added to the bottom so the Stanley Cup would not grow further.
Another new band was scheduled to be added to the bottom of the cup following the 2004–05 season, but was not added because of the labour dispute. After the 2005–06 champion Carolina Hurricanes
were crowned, and the new bottom ring was finally added, the cancelled season was acknowledged with the words "2004–05 Season Not Played". Currently, the Cup stands at 89.5 centimeters (35¼ inches) tall and weighs 15½ kilograms (34½ lb).
were eligible to have their name inscribed on the Stanley Cup. Currently, a player must have played at least 41 games for the championship team during the regular season (provided the player remains with the team when they win the Cup) or played in at least one game of the Stanley Cup Finals
. However, since 1994 teams have been permitted to petition the NHL Commissioner
, to be considered on a case-by-case basis, to engrave a player's name on the cup if the player was unavailable to play due to "extenuating circumstances". For example, The Detroit Red Wings received special permission from the NHL to inscribe the name of Vladimir Konstantinov
, whose career ended after a car accident on June 13, 1997, on the Stanley Cup after Detroit defended their title in 1998.
With the Montreal Canadiens
having won by far the most Cup championships of any team, the list of the players who have been engraved on the Cup the most often is dominated by Montreal players. Henri Richard
of the Canadiens, with his name engraved eleven times, played on more Stanley Cup champions than any other player. He is followed by Jean Beliveau
of the Canadiens with ten championships, Claude Provost
of the Canadiens with nine, and four players tied with eight: Red Kelly
(four with the Red Wings, four with the Leafs) and Canadiens players Jacques Lemaire
, Maurice Richard
and Yvan Cournoyer
. Beliveau's name appears on the Cup more than any other individual, ten times as a player and seven times as management for a total of seventeen times.
Twelve women have had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup. The first woman to have her name engraved on the Stanley Cup is Marguerite Norris
, who won the Cup as the President of the Detroit Red Wings in 1954 and 1955. The only Canadian woman to have her name engraved on the Stanley Cup is Sonia Scurfield
(born in Hafford, Saskatchewan
) who won the Cup as a co-owner of the Calgary Flames in 1989.
The Senior Director of Hockey Administration Charlotte Grahame's
name was added in 2001 when the Colorado Avalanche
won. Charlotte's son John
later had his name engraved as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning
.
There are several misspellings and illegitimate names on the Cup. Many of them have never been corrected. Examples include:
There are many traditions associated with the Stanley Cup. One of the oldest, started by the 1896 Winnipeg Victorias
, dictates that the winning team drink champagne from the top bowl after their victory. The Cup is also traditionally presented on the ice to the captain of the winning team after the series-winning game; each member of the victorious club carries the trophy around the rink. However, this has not always been the case; prior to the 1930s, the Cup was not awarded immediately after the victory. The first time that the Cup was awarded on the ice may have been to the 1932 Toronto Maple Leafs
, but the practice did not become a tradition until the 1950s. Ted Lindsay
of the 1950 Cup champion Detroit Red Wings
became the first captain, upon receiving the Cup, to hoist it overhead and skate around the rink. According to Lindsay, he did so to allow the fans to have a better view of the Cup. Since then, it has been a tradition for each member of the winning team, beginning with the captain, to take a lap around the ice with the trophy hoisted above his head.
The tradition of the captain first hoisting the Cup has been "breached" a few times. In 1993 after the Montreal Canadiens
defeated Los Angeles Kings
, Guy Carbonneau
handed the Cup to Denis Savard
, as Savard had been the player that many fans had urged the Canadiens to draft back in 1980. Another notable exception was in 1998, after the Detroit Red Wings
had defeated the Washington Capitals
, when Steve Yzerman
immediately passed the Cup to Vladimir Konstantinov
, whose career with the Red Wings ended due to serious injuries in a limo accident the previous year and had to be wheeled on the ice. The third was involving Joe Sakic
and Ray Bourque
when the Colorado Avalanche
won the Cup in 2001, as the seventh and deciding game of the Finals would be the last of Bourque's 22-year NHL career, having never been on a Cup-winning team until that time (Bourque had, until being traded to the Avalanche on March 6, 2000, only ever played for the Boston Bruins
). When Sakic received the trophy, he did not hoist it, but instead immediately handed it to Bourque; Sakic then became the second player on the team to hoist the trophy. In reverence for the Cup, NHL players will not touch it until they hoist it after winning the playoffs.
The Stanley Cup championship team is allotted 100 days during off-season to pass around the Cup including the team's parade, days with sponsors and a day or so with each player and member of the team's staff. It is always accompanied by at least one representative from the Hockey Hall of Fame
. Although many players have unofficially spent a day in personal possession of the Cup, in 1994 the New York Rangers
started a tradition wherein each member of the Cup-winning team is allowed to retain the Cup for a day. Victors of the Cup have used it to baptize their children. Two players (the New York Islanders
' Clark Gillies
and the Anaheim Ducks
' Sean O'Donnell
) even allowed their dogs to eat out of the Cup.
There are actually three Stanley Cups: the original bowl, the authenticated Cup, and the replica at the Hall of Fame. The original bowl, purchased by Lord Stanley and physically awarded to the champion until 1970, is now displayed in the vault room at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Ontario.
The authenticated version or "Presentation Cup" was created in 1963 by Montreal silversmith Carl Petersen. NHL president Clarence Campbell
felt that the original bowl was becoming too thin and fragile, and thus requested a duplicate trophy as a replacement. The Presentation Cup is authenticated by the seal of the Hockey Hall of Fame on the bottom, which can be seen when winning players lift the Cup over their heads, and it is the one currently awarded to the champions of the playoffs and used for promotions. This version was made in secret, and its production was only revealed three years later.
The replica trophy, called the "Replica Cup", was created in 1993 by Montreal silversmith Louise St. Jacques to be used as a stand-in at the Hockey Hall of Fame whenever the Presentation Cup is not available for display. There are very few differences between the authenticated version and the replica version. The surest way to identify one version from the other is to check the engraving for the 1984 Stanley Cup winning Edmonton Oilers. The authenticated version has x's engraved over Basil Pocklington's name whereas his name is completely missing from the replica version.
, located near Tampa
, Florida. The visit gave both American troops and a visiting Canadian unit the thrill of seeing the trophy at close hand. The event was later touted by officials at MacDill as "a huge morale booster for our troops". In 2006, the Cup toured Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune
, North Carolina
, where wounded Marines
were given the opportunity to view and be photographed with the Cup.
In 2007, the Stanley Cup made its first trip into a combat zone. During the trip to Kandahar
, Afghanistan from May 2 to May 6, organized by the NHL, the Hockey Hall of Fame
, the NHL Alumni and the Canadian Department of National Defence
, the Cup was put on display for Canadian and other NATO troops. It briefly came under RPG attack on May 3, but emerged unscathed.
The Stanley Cup did a second tour in Afghanistan as part of a "Team Canada visit" in March 2008. In the spring of 2010 the Stanley Cup made its third trip to Afghanistan, accompanied by hockey greats Doug Jarvis
, Tiger Williams
and Lanny McDonald
.
On June 27, 2010, Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brent Sopel
paid tribute to his friend, Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke and Burke's late son, Brendan
, by accompanying the Cup to the 2010 Chicago Gay Pride Parade
. According to Sopel, it was not considered his personal day with the Cup.
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
club trophy
Trophy
A trophy is a reward for a specific achievement, and serves as recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are most often awarded for sporting events, from youth sports to professional level athletics...
, awarded annually to the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
(NHL) playoffs
Season structure of the NHL
The structure of the National Hockey League season is divided into the regular season and the Stanley Cup playoffs. In the regular season, teams play 82 games which determine their standings...
champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals
Stanley Cup Finals
The Stanley Cup Finals is the championship series to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, emblematic of the professional club championship of ice hockey. Although the Cup itself has existed since 1893, an annual championship series between professional teams was not established until 1913...
. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously (chiefly by sportswriters) as Lord Stanley's Mug. The Stanley Cup is surrounded by numerous legends and traditions
Traditions and anecdotes associated with the Stanley Cup
There are many traditions and anecdotes associated with the Stanley Cup. The Stanley Cup is the championship trophy of the National Hockey League , the major professional ice hockey league in Canada and the United States...
, the oldest of which is the celebratory drinking of champagne out of the cup by the winning team. Unlike the trophies awarded by the other three major professional sports leagues
Major professional sports leagues of the United States and Canada
The major professional sports leagues, or simply major leagues, in the United States and Canada are the highest professional competitions in team sports...
of North America, a new Stanley Cup is not made each year; winners keep it until a new champion is crowned. It is unusual among trophies, in that it has the names of all of the winning players, coaches, management, and club staff engraved on its chalice
Chalice (cup)
A chalice is a goblet or footed cup intended to hold a drink. In general religious terms, it is intended for drinking during a ceremony.-Christian:...
. The original bowl was made of silver and is 18.5 centimetres (7.28 inches) in height and 29 centimetres (11.42 inches) in diameter. The current Stanley Cup, topped with a copy of the original bowl, is made of a silver and nickel alloy
Alloy
An alloy is a mixture or metallic solid solution composed of two or more elements. Complete solid solution alloys give single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may or may not be homogeneous in distribution, depending on thermal history...
; it has a height of 89.54 centimetres (35.25 inches) and weighs 15.5 kilograms (34.5 lb / 2 st 6½ lb).
Originally inscribed the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, the trophy was donated in 1892 by then-Governor General of Canada
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
the Lord Stanley of Preston
Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby
Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby KG, GCB, GCVO, PC , known as Frederick Stanley until 1886 and as Lord Stanley of Preston between 1886 and 1893, was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom who served as Colonial Secretary from 1885 to 1886 and the sixth Governor General...
, as an award for Canada's top-ranking amateur ice hockey club. It was given for the first time in 1893
1893 AHAC season
The 1893 Amateur Hockey Association of Canada season lasted from January 7 until March 17. The Montreal Hockey Club was the league and Canadian champion for the sixth season in a row and was awarded the Stanley Cup. They were the first winners of the Cup and did not have to challenge for...
to Montreal HC
Montreal Hockey Club
The Montreal Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was a senior-level men's amateur ice hockey club, organized in 1884. They were affiliated with Montreal Amateur Athletic Association and used the MAAA 'winged wheel' logo. The team is notable for winning the first Stanley Cup in 1893, and in a...
. In 1915, the two professional ice hockey organizations, the National Hockey Association
National Hockey Association
The National Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the direct predecessor organization to today's National Hockey League...
(NHA) and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association
Pacific Coast Hockey Association
The Pacific Coast Hockey Association was a professional men's ice hockey league in western Canada and the western United States, which operated from 1911 to 1924 when it then merged with the Western Canada Hockey League...
(PCHA), reached a gentlemen's agreement
Gentlemen's agreement
A gentlemen's agreement is an informal agreement between two or more parties. It may be written, oral, or simply understood as part of an unspoken agreement by convention or through mutually beneficial etiquette. The essence of a gentlemen's agreement is that it relies upon the honor of the parties...
in which their respective champions would face each other for the Stanley Cup. After a series of league mergers and folds, the Cup became the de facto championship trophy of the NHL in 1926. The Cup became the de jure NHL championship prize in 1947.
Since the 1914–15 season, the Cup has been won a combined 94 times by 17 active NHL teams and five defunct teams. Prior to that, the challenge cup was held by nine different teams. The Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
have won the Cup a record 24 times. The Stanley Cup was not awarded in 1919
1919 Stanley Cup Finals
Seattle dominated Montreal under PCHA rules, scoring two in the first, three in the second and a further two in the third. Corbeau of Montreal was injured but finished the game and continued to play in the series as a substitute.-Game two:...
because of a Spanish flu
Spanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
epidemic, and in 2005, as a consequence of the NHL lockout
NHL lockout
The NHL lockout may refer to any of the two lockouts in the history of the National Hockey League:* The 1994–95 NHL lockout, which canceled many of the games of the 1994–95 season...
.
Origins
Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby
Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby KG, GCB, GCVO, PC , known as Frederick Stanley until 1886 and as Lord Stanley of Preston between 1886 and 1893, was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom who served as Colonial Secretary from 1885 to 1886 and the sixth Governor General...
was appointed by Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
as Governor General of Canada
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
on June 11, 1888, he and his family became highly enthusiastic about ice hockey. Stanley was first exposed to the game at Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
's 1889 Winter Carnival, where he saw the Montreal Victorias
Montreal Victorias
The Victoria Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was an early men's amateur ice hockey club. Its date of origin is ascribed to either 1874, 1877 or 1881, making it either the first or second organized ice hockey club after McGill University. The club played at its own rink, the Victoria Skating...
play the Montreal Hockey Club
Montreal Hockey Club
The Montreal Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was a senior-level men's amateur ice hockey club, organized in 1884. They were affiliated with Montreal Amateur Athletic Association and used the MAAA 'winged wheel' logo. The team is notable for winning the first Stanley Cup in 1893, and in a...
. The Montreal Gazette reported that he "expressed his great delight with the game of hockey and the expertise of the players". During that time, organized ice hockey in Canada was still in its infancy and only Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
had anything resembling leagues.
Stanley's entire family became active in ice hockey. Two of his sons, Arthur and Algernon, formed a new team called the Ottawa Rideau Hall Rebels
Rideau Hall Rebels
The Rideau Hall Rebels or, by its full name, the Vice-Regal and Parliamentary Hockey Club was one of the first ice hockey teams in Canada. The team was based out of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and named after Rideau Hall, a Canadian governmental building, the residence of the Governor General...
. Arthur also played a key role in the formation of what later became known as the Ontario Hockey Association
Ontario Hockey Association
The Ontario Hockey Association is the governing body for the majority of Junior and Senior level ice hockey teams in the Province of Ontario. The OHA is sanctioned by the Ontario Hockey Federation along with the Northern Ontario Hockey Association. Other Ontario sanctioning bodies along with the...
(OHA), and would go on to be the founder of ice hockey in Great Britain. Arthur and Algernon persuaded their father to donate a trophy to be "an outward and visible sign of the hockey championship". Stanley sent the following message to the victory celebration held on March 18, 1892, at Ottawa's Russell Hotel
Russell Hotel (Ottawa)
The Russell House hotel was the most high profile hotel in Ottawa, Canada for many decades.-History:The hotel was located at the southeast corner of Sparks Street and Elgin. A small hotel was first built there in the 1840s and the small structure was originally named Campbell's Hotel after its...
for the three-time champion Ottawa Hockey Club
Ottawa Senators (original)
The Ottawa Senators were an amateur, and later, professional, ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934...
:
I have for some time been thinking that it would be a good thing if there were a challenge cup which should be held from year to year by the champion hockey team in the Dominion (of Canada).
There does not appear to be any such outward sign of a championship at present, and considering the general interest which matches now elicit, and the importance of having the game played fairly and under rules generally recognized, I am willing to give a cup which shall be held from year to year by the winning team.
I am not quite certain that the present regulations governing the arrangement of matches give entire satisfaction, and it would be worth considering whether they could not be arranged so that each team would play once at home and once at the place where their opponents hail from.
Soon afterwards, Stanley purchased a decorative punch bowl
Punch bowl
A punch bowl is a bowl, often large and wide, in which the drink punch is served.-Origins:The word punch is a loanword from Hindi. The original drink was named paantsch, which is Hindi for "five", and the drink was made from five different ingredients: spirit, sugar, lemon, water, and tea or spices...
, made in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, England, and sold by London silversmith
Silversmith
A silversmith is a craftsperson who makes objects from silver or gold. The terms 'silversmith' and 'goldsmith' are not synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product varies greatly as does the scale of objects created.Silversmithing is the...
G. R. Collis and Company (now Boodle and Dunthorne Jewellers), for ten guineas
Guinea (British coin)
The guinea is a coin that was minted in the Kingdom of England and later in the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom between 1663 and 1813...
, equal to ten and a half pounds sterling, $48.67 US$, which is equal to $ today. He had the words "Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup" engraved on one side of the outside rim, and "From Stanley of Preston" on the other side.
Originally, Stanley intended that the Cup should be awarded to the top amateur hockey team in Canada, to be decided by the acceptance of a challenge from another team. He made five preliminary regulations:
- The winners shall return the Cup in good order when required by the trustees so that it may be handed over to any other team which may win it.
- Each winning team, at its own expense, may have the club name and year engraved on a silver ring fitted on the Cup.
- The Cup shall remain a challenge cup, and should not become the property of one team, even if won more than once.
- The trustees shall maintain absolute authority in all situations or disputes over the winner of the Cup.
- If one of the existing trustees resigns or drops out, the remaining trustee shall nominate a substitute.
Philip Dansken Ross
Philip Dansken Ross was a Canadian journalist, newspaper publisher, sportsman and ice hockey pioneer builder....
(who would serve in his post an unsurpassed 56 years) as trustees of the Cup. Sweetland and Ross first presented the trophy in 1893 to the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association on behalf of the affiliated Montreal Hockey Club
Montreal Hockey Club
The Montreal Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was a senior-level men's amateur ice hockey club, organized in 1884. They were affiliated with Montreal Amateur Athletic Association and used the MAAA 'winged wheel' logo. The team is notable for winning the first Stanley Cup in 1893, and in a...
, the champions of the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHAC), since they "defeated all comers during the late season, including the champions of the Ontario Association" (Ottawa). Sweetland and Ross also believed that the AHAC was the top league, and as first place finishers in the AHAC, Montreal was the best team in Canada. Naturally, the Ottawas were upset by the decision because there had been no challenge games scheduled and because the trustees failed to convey the rules on how the Cup was to be awarded prior to the start of the season.
As a result, the Cup trustees issued more specific rules on how the trophy should be defended and awarded:
- The Cup is automatically awarded to the team that wins the title of the previous Cup champion's league, without the need for any other special extra contest.
- Challengers for the Cup must be from senior hockey associations, and must have won their league championship. Challengers will be recognized in the order in which their request is received.
- The challenge games (where the Cup could change leagues) are to be decided either in a one-game affair, a two-game total goals affair, or a best of three series, to the benefit of both teams involved. All matches would take place on the home ice of the champions, although specific dates and times would have to be approved by the trustees.
- Ticket receipts from the challenge games are to be split equally between both teams.
- If the two competing clubs cannot agree to a referee, the trustees will appoint one, and the two teams shall cover the expenses equally. If the two competing clubs cannot agree on other officials, the referee will appoint them, and the two clubs shall also pay the expenses equally
- A league could not challenge for the Cup twice in one season.
Stanley never saw a Stanley Cup championship game, nor did he ever present the Cup. Although his term as governor general ended in September 1893, he was forced to return to England on July 15. In April of that year, his elder brother Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby
Edward Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby
Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby KG, PC, FRS , known as Lord Stanley from 1844 to 1869, was a British statesman...
died, and Stanley succeeded him as the 16th Earl of Derby
Earl of Derby
Earl of Derby is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the end of the reign of Henry III and died in 1279...
.
Challenge Cup era
During the challenge cup period, none of the leagues that played for the trophy had a formal playoff system to decide their respective champions; whichever team finished in first place after the regular season won the league title. However, in 1894, four teams out of the five-team AHAC tied for the championship with records of 5–3–0. The AHAC had no tie-breaking system. After extensive negotiations and Quebec's withdrawal from the championship competition, it was decided that a three-team tournament would take place in Montreal, with the Ottawa team receiving a byeBye (sports)
A bye, in sports and other competitive activities, most commonly refers to the practice of allowing a player or team to advance to the next round of a playoff tournament without playing...
to the Final because they were the only road team. On March 17, in the first ever Stanley Cup playoff game, the Montreal Hockey Club (Montreal HC) defeated the Montreal Victorias, 3–2. Five days later, in the first Stanley Cup Final game, Montreal HC beat the Ottawa Hockey Club
Ottawa Senators (original)
The Ottawa Senators were an amateur, and later, professional, ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934...
, 3–1.
Montreal Victorias
The Victoria Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was an early men's amateur ice hockey club. Its date of origin is ascribed to either 1874, 1877 or 1881, making it either the first or second organized ice hockey club after McGill University. The club played at its own rink, the Victoria Skating...
had won the league title and thus the Stanley Cup, but the challenge match was between the previous year's champion, Montreal HC, and the university squad. The trustees decided that if the Montreal HC won the challenge match, the Victorias would become the Stanley Cup champions. The Montreal HC won the match 5–1 and their cross-town rivals were crowned the champions. The first successful challenge to the Cup came the next year by the Winnipeg Victorias
Winnipeg Victorias
The Winnipeg Victorias were a former amateur senior-level men's amateur ice hockey team in Winnipeg, Manitoba, organized in 1889. They played in the Manitoba Hockey Association in the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
, the champions of the Manitoba Hockey League. On February 14, 1896, the Winnipeg squad defeated the champions 2–0 and became the first team outside the AHAC to win the Cup.
As the prestige of winning the Cup grew, so did the need to attract top players. Only nine months after winning the Cup, in March 1906, the Montreal Wanderers
Montreal Wanderers
The Montreal Wanderers were a Canadian amateur, and later becoming a professional men's ice hockey team. The team played in the Federal Amateur Hockey League , the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association , the National Hockey Association and briefly the National Hockey League . The Wanderers are...
pushed through a resolution at the annual meeting of the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association
Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association
The Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association was a men's amateur, later professional ice hockey league in Canada that played four seasons. It was founded on December 11, 1905 with six clubs: four from the Canadian Amateur Hockey League and two from the Federal Amateur Hockey League, to bring...
(ECAHA) that would allow professional players to play alongside amateurs. Because the ECAHA was the top hockey league in Canada at the time, the Cup trustees agreed to open the challenges to professional teams. The first professional competition came one month later during the Wanderers' two-game, total goals challenge series, which they won 17 goals to 5.
The smallest municipality to produce a Stanley Cup champion team is Kenora, Ontario; the town had a population of about 4,000 when the Kenora Thistles
Kenora Thistles
The Kenora Thistles were an early amateur men's ice hockey team based in Kenora, Ontario, Canada, formed in 1885 as a senior team by a group of Lake of the Woods lumbermen. The club is notable for winning the Stanley Cup as an amateur team in 1907. The town is the smallest in population to have...
captured the Cup in January 1907. Aided by future Hall of Famers Art Ross
Art Ross
Arthur Howey "Art" Ross was a Canadian ice hockey defenceman and executive from 1905 until 1954. Regarded as one of the best defenders of his era by his peers, he was one of the first to skate with the puck up the ice rather than pass it to a forward...
and "Bad" Joe Hall
Joe Hall
Joseph Henry Hall , nicknamed Bad Joe Hall, was a professional ice hockey defenceman who played professionally from 1904 until 1919 when he died as a result of the influenza epidemic...
, the Thistles defeated the Montreal Wanderers in a two-game, total goals challenge series. The Thistles successfully defended the Cup once, against a team from Brandon, Manitoba
Brandon, Manitoba
Brandon is the second largest city in Manitoba, Canada, and is located in the southwestern area of the province. Brandon is the largest city in the Westman region of Manitoba. The city is located along the Assiniboine River. Spruce Woods Provincial Park and CFB Shilo are a relatively short distance...
. In March 1907, the Wanderers challenged the Thistles to a rematch. Despite an improved lineup, the Thistles lost the Cup to Montreal.
In 1908, the Allan Cup
Allan Cup
The Allan Cup is the trophy awarded annually to the national senior amateur men’s ice hockey champions of Canada. It has been competed for since 1909. The current champion is the Clarenville Caribous hockey club of Newfoundland and Labrador.-History:...
was introduced as the trophy for Canada's amateurs, and the Stanley Cup started to become a symbol of professional hockey supremacy. In that same year, the first all-professional team, the Toronto Trolley Leaguers from the newly created Ontario Professional Hockey League
Ontario Professional Hockey League
-External links:*...
(OPHL), competed for the Cup. One year later, the Montreal HC and the Montreal Victorias, the two remaining amateur teams, left the ECAHA, and the ECAHA dropped "Amateur" from their name to become a professional league. In 1910, the National Hockey Association
National Hockey Association
The National Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey organization with teams in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is the direct predecessor organization to today's National Hockey League...
(NHA) was formed. The NHA soon proved it was the best in Canada, as it kept the Cup for the next four years.
Prior to 1912, challenges could take place at any time, given the appropriate rink conditions, and it was common for teams to defend the Cup numerous times during the year. In 1912, Cup trustees declared that it was only to be defended at the end of the champion team's regular season.
Organized interleague competition
In 1914, the Victoria Aristocrats from the Pacific Coast Hockey AssociationPacific Coast Hockey Association
The Pacific Coast Hockey Association was a professional men's ice hockey league in western Canada and the western United States, which operated from 1911 to 1924 when it then merged with the Western Canada Hockey League...
(PCHA) challenged the NHA and Cup champion Toronto Blueshirts
Toronto Blueshirts
The Toronto Hockey Club, known as the Torontos and the Toronto Blue Shirts were a professional National Hockey Association team that played in Toronto, Ontario, Canada...
. A controversy erupted when a letter arrived from the Stanley Cup trustees on March 17, that the trustees would not let the Stanley Cup travel west, as they did not consider Victoria a proper challenger because they had not formally notified the trustees. However, on March 18, Trustee William Foran stated that it was a misunderstanding. PCHA president Frank Patrick had not filed a challenge, because he had expected Emmett Quinn of the NHA to make all of the arrangements in his role as hockey commissioner, whereas the trustees thought they were being deliberately ignored. In any case, all arrangements had been ironed out and the Victoria challenge was accepted.
Several days later, trustee William Foran wrote to NHA president Emmett Quinn that the trustees are "perfectly satisfied to allow the representatives of the three pro leagues (NHA, PCHA and Maritime) to make all arrangements each season as to the series of matches to be played for the Cup." One year later, the NHA and the PCHA concluded a gentlemen's agreement
Gentlemen's agreement
A gentlemen's agreement is an informal agreement between two or more parties. It may be written, oral, or simply understood as part of an unspoken agreement by convention or through mutually beneficial etiquette. The essence of a gentlemen's agreement is that it relies upon the honor of the parties...
in which their respective champions would face each other for the Cup, similar to baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
's World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
, which is played between the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
and National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
champions. Under the new proposal, the Stanley Cup Final series alternated between the East and the West each year, with alternating games played according to NHA and PCHA rules. The Cup trustees agreed to this new arrangement, because after the Allan Cup became the highest prize for amateur hockey teams in Canada, the trustees had become dependent on the top two professional leagues to bolster the prominence of the trophy. The PCHA's Vancouver Millionaires
Vancouver Millionaires
The Vancouver Millionaires were a professional ice hockey team that competed in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and the Western Canada Hockey League between 1911 and 1926...
won the first "formal" PCHA–NHA Cup Final, three games to zero in a best-of-five series.
After the Portland Rosebuds
Portland Rosebuds
Portland Rosebuds is the name of at least three professional teams based in Portland, Oregon during the first half of the 20th century. Two were professional men's ice hockey teams playing their home games at the Portland Ice Arena, one from 1914 to 1918 and another in 1925-6...
, an American-based team, joined the PCHA in 1914, the trustees issued a statement that the Cup was no longer for the best team in Canada, but now for the best team in the world. Two years later, the Rosebuds became the first American team to play in the Stanley Cup Final. In 1917, the Seattle Metropolitans
Seattle Metropolitans
The Seattle Metropolitans were a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle, Washington which played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association from 1915 to 1924. They won the Stanley Cup in 1917, becoming the first American team to do so...
became the first American team to win the Cup. After that season, the NHA dissolved, and the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
(NHL) took its place.
In 1919
1919 Stanley Cup Finals
Seattle dominated Montreal under PCHA rules, scoring two in the first, three in the second and a further two in the third. Corbeau of Montreal was injured but finished the game and continued to play in the series as a substitute.-Game two:...
, the Spanish influenza epidemic forced the Montreal Canadiens and the Seattle Metropolitans to cancel their series, marking the first time the Stanley Cup was not awarded. The series was tied at 2–2–1, but the final game was never played because Montreal Manager George Kennedy and players Joe Hall
Joe Hall
Joseph Henry Hall , nicknamed Bad Joe Hall, was a professional ice hockey defenceman who played professionally from 1904 until 1919 when he died as a result of the influenza epidemic...
, Billy Coutu
Billy Coutu
Wilfrid Arthur Coutu was a professional Canadian ice hockey defenceman who played ten seasons in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens, the Hamilton Tigers, and the Boston Bruins...
, Jack McDonald, and Newsy Lalonde
Newsy Lalonde
Édouard Cyrille "Newsy" Lalonde was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward in the National Hockey League and a professional lacrosse player, regarded as one of hockey's and lacrosse's greatest players of the first half of the 20th century and one of sport's most colourful characters...
were hospitalized with influenza. Hall died four days after the cancelled game, and the series was abandoned.
The format for the Stanley Cup Final changed in 1922, with the creation of the Western Canada Hockey League
Western Canada Hockey League
The Western Canada Hockey League , founded in 1921, was a major professional ice hockey league originally based in the prairies of Canada. It was renamed the Western Hockey League in 1925 and disbanded in 1926.-History:...
(WCHL). Three leagues competed for the Cup: two league champions faced each other for the right to challenge the third champion in the final series. This lasted three seasons as the PCHA and the WCHL later merged to form the Western Hockey League (WHL) in 1925. After winning in the 1924–25 season, the Victoria Cougars
Victoria Cougars
The Victoria Cougars were a major league professional ice hockey team that played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association from 1922 to 1924, and in the Western Hockey League from 1924 to 1926...
became the last team outside the NHL to win the Stanley Cup.
NHL takes over
The WHL folded in 1926, leaving the NHL as the only league left competing for the Cup. Other leagues and clubs occasionally issued challenges, but from that year forward, no non-NHL team has played for it, leading it to become the de facto championship trophy of the NHL. In 1947, the NHL reached an agreement with trustees P.D. RossPhilip Dansken Ross
Philip Dansken Ross was a Canadian journalist, newspaper publisher, sportsman and ice hockey pioneer builder....
and Cooper Smeaton
Cooper Smeaton
J. Cooper Smeaton was a Canadian professional ice hockey referee and head coach.Smeaton was born in Carleton Place, Ontario. In his first game in 1913, between the Montreal Canadiens and the Montreal Wanderers of the National Hockey Association, he was confronted by Newsy Lalonde after calling an...
to grant control of the Cup to the NHL, allowing the league to reject challenges from other leagues that may have wished to play for the Cup.
- The Trustees hereby delegate to the League full authority to determine and amend from time to time the conditions for competition of the Stanley Cup, including the qualifications of challengers, the appointment of officials, the apportionment and distribution of all gate receipts, provided always that the winners of this trophy shall be the acknowledged World's Professional Hockey Champions.
- The Trustees agree that during the currency of this agreement they will not acknowledge or accept any challenge for the Stanley Cup unless such a challenge is in conformity with the condition specified in paragraph one (1) thereof.
- The League undertakes the responsibility for the care and safe custody of the Stanley Cup including all necessary repairs and alterations to the cup and sub-structure as may be required from time to time, and further undertakes to insure the Stanley Cup for its full insurable value.
- The League hereby acknowledges itself to be bound to the Trustees in the sum of One Thousand Dollars, which bond is conditioned upon the safe return of the Stanley Cup to the Trustees in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, and it is agreed that the League shall have the right to return the trophy to the Trustees at any time.
- This agreement shall remain in force so long as the League continues to be the world's leading professional hockey league as determined by its playing caliber, and in the event of dissolution or other termination of the National Hockey League, the Stanley Cup shall revert to the custody of the trustees.
- In the event of default in the appointment of a new trustee by the surviving trustee, the "Trustees" hereby delegate and appoint the Governors of the International Hockey Hall of Fame in Kingston, Ontario, to name two Canadian trustees to carry on under the terms of the original trust, and in conformity with this Agreement.
- And it is further mutually agreed that any disputes arising as to the interpretation of this Agreement or the facts upon which such interpretation is made, shall be settled by an Arbitration Board of three, one member to be appointed by each of the parties, and the third to be selected by the two appointees. The decision of the Arbitration Board shall be final.
This agreement was amended on November 22, 1961, substituting the Governors of the International Hockey Hall of Fame
International Hockey Hall of Fame
The International Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, on the Kingston Memorial Centre grounds features many exhibits within their museum about the history of ice hockey.-Historic Hockey Series:...
in Kingston, Ontario with the Committee of the Hockey Hall of Fame
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
in Toronto, Ontario as the group that would name the two Canadian trustees, if need be. In the 1970s, the World Hockey Association
World Hockey Association
The World Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major competition for the National Hockey League since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926...
sought to challenge for the Cup. The Trustees denied them the opportunity to do so.
The Cup was awarded every year until 2005, when a labour dispute between the NHL's owners and the NHL Players Association
NHL Players Association
The National Hockey League Players' Association or NHLPA is the labor union for the group of professional hockey players who are under Standard Player Contracts to the thirty member clubs in the National Hockey League located in the United States and Canada...
(the union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
that represents the players) led to the cancellation of the 2004–05 season. As a result, no Cup champion was crowned for the first time since the flu pandemic in 1919. The lockout was controversial among many fans, who questioned whether the NHL had exclusive control over the Cup. A website known as freestanley.com (since closed) was launched, asking fans to write to the Cup trustees and urge them to return to the original Challenge Cup format. Adrienne Clarkson
Adrienne Clarkson
Adrienne Louise Clarkson is a Canadian journalist and stateswoman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 26th since Canadian Confederation....
, then Governor General of Canada, alternately proposed that the Cup be presented to the top women's hockey team in lieu of the NHL season. This idea was so unpopular that the Clarkson Cup
Clarkson Cup
The Clarkson Cup is an ice hockey trophy, which since 2009 has been awarded to the winner of the Canadian Women's Hockey Championship. Like the Stanley Cup, it was created by and named after a former Governor General of Canada: Adrienne Clarkson....
was created instead. Meanwhile, a group in Ontario, also known as the "Wednesday Nighters", filed an application with the Ontario Superior Court, claiming that the Cup trustees had overstepped their bounds in signing the 1947 agreement with the NHL, and therefore must award the trophy regardless of the lockout.
On February 7, 2006, a settlement was reached in which the trophy could be awarded to non-NHL teams should the league not operate for a season. The dispute lasted so long that, by the time it was settled, the NHL had resumed operating for the 2005–06 season, and the Stanley Cup went unclaimed for the 2004–05 season.
Trustees
The regulations set down by Lord Stanley call for two Trustees, who had the sole, joint right to govern the Cup and the conditions of its awarding until 1947, when they ceded control to the NHL. While the original regulations allow for a Trustee to resign, to date, all Cup Trustees have served until their deaths; a deceased Trustee is replaced by the surviving Trustee.To date, nine men have served as Trustees of the Stanley Cup:
| Trustee | Year of Appointment | Served Until |
| Sheriff John Sweetland | 1893 | 1907 |
| P. D. Ross Philip Dansken Ross Philip Dansken Ross was a Canadian journalist, newspaper publisher, sportsman and ice hockey pioneer builder.... |
1893 | 1949 |
| William Foran William Foran William Michael Foran was an ice hockey executive, Stanley Cup trustee and government official. For over 50 years, he was secretary of the Board of Civil Service Examiners and its follow-up organization, the Civil Service Commission of the Government of Canada.-Government career:Mr... |
1907 | 1945 |
| Cooper Smeaton Cooper Smeaton J. Cooper Smeaton was a Canadian professional ice hockey referee and head coach.Smeaton was born in Carleton Place, Ontario. In his first game in 1913, between the Montreal Canadiens and the Montreal Wanderers of the National Hockey Association, he was confronted by Newsy Lalonde after calling an... |
1946 | 1978 |
| Mervyn "Red" Dutton Red Dutton Norman Alexander "Mervyn" "Red" Dutton was a Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach and executive. He played for the Calgary Tigers of the Western Canada Hockey League and the Montreal Maroons and New York Americans of the National Hockey League... |
1950 | 1987 |
| Clarence Campbell Clarence Campbell Clarence Sutherland Campbell OBE, QC was the third president of the National Hockey League from 1946 to 1977.-Early life and career:... |
1979 | 1984 |
| Justice Willard Estey Willard Estey Willard Zebedee "Bud" Estey, was a Canadian justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.Estey was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He was the son of James Wilfred Estey, a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, and Muriel Baldwin. He studied at the University of Saskatchewan earning a BA in... |
1984 | 2002 |
| Brian O'Neill | 1987 | current |
| Ian "Scotty" Morrison Scotty Morrison Ian "Scotty" Morrison is a former National Hockey League referee and vice-president, and the former president and chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame.... |
2002 | current |
Engraving
Grey Cup
The Grey Cup is both the name of the championship of the Canadian Football League and the name of the trophy awarded to the victorious team. It is Canada's largest annual sports and television event, regularly drawing a Canadian viewing audience of about 3 to 4 million individuals...
, awarded to the winner of the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
, the Stanley Cup is engraved with the names of the winning players, coaches, management, and club staff. However, this was not always the case: one of Lord Stanley's original conditions was that each team could, at their own expense, add a ring to the Cup to commemorate their victory. Initially, there was only one base ring, which was attached to the bottom of the original bowl by the Montreal AAAs
Montreal Hockey Club
The Montreal Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was a senior-level men's amateur ice hockey club, organized in 1884. They were affiliated with Montreal Amateur Athletic Association and used the MAAA 'winged wheel' logo. The team is notable for winning the first Stanley Cup in 1893, and in a...
. Clubs engraved their team names, usually in the form "TEAM NAME" "YEAR WON", on that one ring until it was full in 1902. With no more room to engrave their names (and unwilling to pay for a second band), teams left their mark on the bowl itself. The 1907 Montreal Wanderers
Montreal Wanderers
The Montreal Wanderers were a Canadian amateur, and later becoming a professional men's ice hockey team. The team played in the Federal Amateur Hockey League , the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association , the National Hockey Association and briefly the National Hockey League . The Wanderers are...
became the first club to record their name on the bowl's interior surface, and the first champion to record the name of every member of their team.
In 1908, for reasons unknown, the Wanderers, despite having turned aside four challengers, did not record their names on the Cup. The next year, the Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators (original)
The Ottawa Senators were an amateur, and later, professional, ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada which existed from 1883 to 1954. The club was the first hockey club in Ontario, a founding member of the National Hockey League and played in the NHL from 1917 until 1934...
added a second band onto the Cup. Despite the new room, the 1910 Wanderers and the 1911 Senators did not put their names on the Cup. The 1915 Vancouver Millionaires
Vancouver Millionaires
The Vancouver Millionaires were a professional ice hockey team that competed in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and the Western Canada Hockey League between 1911 and 1926...
became the second team to engrave players' names, this time inside the bowl along its sides.
The 1918 Millionaires eventually filled the band added by the 1909 Senators. The 1915 Ottawa Senators, the 1916 Portland Rosebuds
Portland Rosebuds
Portland Rosebuds is the name of at least three professional teams based in Portland, Oregon during the first half of the 20th century. Two were professional men's ice hockey teams playing their home games at the Portland Ice Arena, one from 1914 to 1918 and another in 1925-6...
, and the 1918 Vancouver Millionaires all engraved their names on the trophy even though they did not officially win it under the new PCHA-NHA system. They had only won the title of the previous champion's league and would have been crowned as Cup champions under the old challenge rules. The winners in 1918, 1920 to 1923 did not put their winning team name on it.
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
added a new band to the Cup. Since then, engraving the team and its players has been an unbroken annual tradition. Originally, a new band was added each year, causing the trophy to grow in size. The "Stovepipe Cup", as it was nicknamed because of its resemblance to the exhaust pipe of a stove, became unwieldy, so it was redesigned in 1948 as a two-piece cigar-shaped trophy with a removable bowl and collar. This Cup also properly honoured those teams that did not engrave their names on the Cup. Also included was 1918–19 No Decision Montreal Canadiens Seattle Metropolitans.
Since 1958, the Cup has undergone several minor alterations. The original collar and bowl were too brittle, and were replaced in 1963 and 1969, respectively. The modern one-piece Cup design was introduced in 1958, when the old barrel was replaced with a five-band barrel, each of which could contain 13 winning teams. Although the bands were originally designed to fill up during the Cup's centennial year, the names of the 1965 Montreal Canadiens were engraved over a larger area than allotted and thus there are 12 teams on that band instead of 13. When the bands were all filled in 1991, the top band of the large barrel was preserved in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and a new blank band was added to the bottom so the Stanley Cup would not grow further.
Another new band was scheduled to be added to the bottom of the cup following the 2004–05 season, but was not added because of the labour dispute. After the 2005–06 champion Carolina Hurricanes
Carolina Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League , and play their home games at the 18,680-seat RBC Center...
were crowned, and the new bottom ring was finally added, the cancelled season was acknowledged with the words "2004–05 Season Not Played". Currently, the Cup stands at 89.5 centimeters (35¼ inches) tall and weighs 15½ kilograms (34½ lb).
Name inscriptions
Prior to 1977 only players who had completed the Stanley Cup playoffsStanley Cup playoffs
The Stanley Cup playoffs is an elimination tournament in the National Hockey League consisting of four rounds of best-of-seven series. Eight teams from each of the league's two conferences qualify for the playoffs based on regular season records...
were eligible to have their name inscribed on the Stanley Cup. Currently, a player must have played at least 41 games for the championship team during the regular season (provided the player remains with the team when they win the Cup) or played in at least one game of the Stanley Cup Finals
Stanley Cup Finals
The Stanley Cup Finals is the championship series to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, emblematic of the professional club championship of ice hockey. Although the Cup itself has existed since 1893, an annual championship series between professional teams was not established until 1913...
. However, since 1994 teams have been permitted to petition the NHL Commissioner
NHL Commissioner
The National Hockey League Commissioner is the highest-ranking executive officer in the National Hockey League . The position was created in 1993 with Gary Bettman as the first Commissioner...
, to be considered on a case-by-case basis, to engrave a player's name on the cup if the player was unavailable to play due to "extenuating circumstances". For example, The Detroit Red Wings received special permission from the NHL to inscribe the name of Vladimir Konstantinov
Vladimir Konstantinov
Vladimir Nikolaevich Konstantinov is a Russian retired professional ice hockey player who played his entire National Hockey League career with the Detroit Red Wings. Previously, he had played for Soviet club CSKA Moscow...
, whose career ended after a car accident on June 13, 1997, on the Stanley Cup after Detroit defended their title in 1998.
With the Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
having won by far the most Cup championships of any team, the list of the players who have been engraved on the Cup the most often is dominated by Montreal players. Henri Richard
Henri Richard
Joseph Henri Richard is a former professional ice hockey player who played centre with the Montreal Canadiens in the National Hockey League from 1955 to 1975...
of the Canadiens, with his name engraved eleven times, played on more Stanley Cup champions than any other player. He is followed by Jean Beliveau
Jean Béliveau
Jean Arthur "Le Gros Bill" Béliveau, is a former professional ice hockey player who played parts of 20 seasons with the National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens. As a player, he won the Stanley Cup 10 times, and as an executive he was part of another seven championship teams, the most Stanley...
of the Canadiens with ten championships, Claude Provost
Claude Provost
Claude Joseph Antoine Provost was a Canadian professional ice hockey right winger....
of the Canadiens with nine, and four players tied with eight: Red Kelly
Red Kelly
Leonard Patrick "Red" Kelly, CM is a retired Canadian ice hockey player in the NHL. He played on more Stanley Cup winning teams than any player who never played for the Montreal Canadiens, and is the only player to be part of two of the nine dynasties recognized by the NHL in its history...
(four with the Red Wings, four with the Leafs) and Canadiens players Jacques Lemaire
Jacques Lemaire
Jacques Gerard Lemaire is a former ice hockey forward for the Montreal Canadiens and a long-time coach, most notably with the New Jersey Devils and the Minnesota Wild.-Playing career:...
, Maurice Richard
Maurice Richard
Joseph Henri Maurice "the Rocket" Richard, Sr., was a French-Canadian professional ice hockey player who played for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League from 1942 to 1960. The "Rocket" was the most prolific goal-scorer of his era, the first to achieve the feat of 50 goals in 50...
and Yvan Cournoyer
Yvan Cournoyer
Yvan Serge "The Roadrunner" Cournoyer is a retired Canadian hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens from 1963 to 1979. Cournoyer was born in Drummondville, Quebec. He was nicknamed "The Roadrunner" due to his small size and blazing speed, which he...
. Beliveau's name appears on the Cup more than any other individual, ten times as a player and seven times as management for a total of seventeen times.
Twelve women have had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup. The first woman to have her name engraved on the Stanley Cup is Marguerite Norris
Marguerite Norris
Marguerite Norris was the first female executive in NHL history.Marguerite Norris was the team president of the Detroit Red Wings of the NHL from 1952 - 1955. She was the first female chief executive in the history of the National Hockey League. She was the first woman to have her name engraved on...
, who won the Cup as the President of the Detroit Red Wings in 1954 and 1955. The only Canadian woman to have her name engraved on the Stanley Cup is Sonia Scurfield
Sonia Scurfield
Sonia Scurfield, B.A was a co-owner of the Calgary Flames hockey team from 1985 to 1994. She became only the second woman, and the only Canadian woman, to have her name engraved on the Stanley Cup when the Calgary Flames won the National Hockey League championship in 1989.- Biography :Sonia...
(born in Hafford, Saskatchewan
Hafford, Saskatchewan
-Education:The Hafford community was served firstly by the Whiteberry School District which constructed their school building over two years 1906-1908, opening in 1909 followed by the Rus School District opening 1910. In this area, the Alberton School District, Gooseberry School District, Slawa...
) who won the Cup as a co-owner of the Calgary Flames in 1989.
The Senior Director of Hockey Administration Charlotte Grahame's
Charlotte Grahame
Charlotte Grahame is the Executive Director of Hockey Administration for the Colorado Avalanche.As a member of the Colorado executive management during the 2001, when Colorado won the Stanley Cup, her name was engraved on it. Her son, John Grahame had his name engraved on the Cup as a member of...
name was added in 2001 when the Colorado Avalanche
Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver, Colorado, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Avalanche have won the Stanley Cup twice, in 1995–96 and 2000–01. The franchise...
won. Charlotte's son John
John Grahame
John Gillies Mark Grahame is currently the goaltender coach for the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL and is a former professional ice hockey goaltender who played most recently for the Lake Erie Monsters of the American Hockey League.-Playing career:Grahame played in the USHL for the Sioux City...
later had his name engraved as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . They have one Stanley Cup championship in their history, in 2003–04. They are often referred to as the...
.
Engraving errors
- Pat McReavyPat McReavyPatrick Joseph McReavy was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who played 55 games in the National Hockey League. Born in Owen Sound, Ontario, he played with the Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins. In 1939, he played 6 regular season games, never appearing in the playoffs, but Boston still...
's name is misspelled "McCeavy" as a member of the 1941 Boston Bruins1940–41 Boston Bruins seasonThe 1940–41 Boston Bruins season was the Bruins' 17th season in the National Hockey League, and they were coming off of a successful season in 1939–40, leading the NHL in points for the third season in a row, as they finished with a 31–12–5 record, accumulating 67 points...
. - Dickie Moore won six cups, his name was spelled differently five times (D. Moore, Richard Moore, R. Moore, Dickie Moore, Rich Moore).
- Glenn HallGlenn HallGlenn Henry "Mr. Goalie" Hall is a former professional ice hockey goaltender. During his National Hockey League career with the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Black Hawks, and St. Louis Blues, Hall seldom missed a game and was a consistent performer, winning the Vezina Trophy three times, and the...
's name was misspelled as "Glin" in 1951–52. - Bob GaineyBob GaineyRobert Michael "Le Capitaine" Gainey is the former executive vice president and general manager of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League . He is also a former professional ice hockey player who played for the Canadiens from 1973 until 1989...
was spelled "Gainy" when he was a player for Montreal in the 1970s. - Ted Kennedy was spelled "Kennedyy" in the 1940s.
- Toronto Maple LeafsToronto Maple LeafsThe Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
was spelled "Leaes" in 1963. - Boston BruinsBoston BruinsThe Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
was spelled "Bqstqn" in 1972. - New York IslandersNew York IslandersThe New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Uniondale, New York. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
was spelled "Ilanders" in 1981. - One name was later scratched out: Peter PocklingtonPeter PocklingtonPeter Hugh Pocklington is a Canadian entrepreneur.He made his initial fortune as the owner of one of the largest auto dealerships in Canada, and later took over a meat packing company involved in a high-profile labour strike....
, a former Edmonton Oilers owner, put his father's name, Basil, on the Stanley Cup in 1984; today, there is a series of "X"s over Basil's name. - In 1996, Colorado Avalanche's Adam DeadmarshAdam DeadmarshAdam Deadmarsh is a former Canadian-American professional ice hockey player who played in the NHL with the Quebec Nordiques, Colorado Avalanche and the Los Angeles Kings. He is currently an Assistant Coach to Joe Sacco for the Avalanche...
's last name was spelled "Deadmarch". It was later corrected, marking the first correction on the Cup. Similar corrections were made in 2002, 2006 and 2010 for the names of Detroit Red WingsDetroit Red WingsThe Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...
goalie Manny LegaceManny LegacéEmmanuel Legace, is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently playing for the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League. He most recently played in the National Hockey League for the Carolina Hurricanes. He has also played in the National Hockey League for the Los...
("Lagace"), Carolina HurricanesCarolina HurricanesThe Carolina Hurricanes are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League , and play their home games at the 18,680-seat RBC Center...
forward Eric StaalEric StaalEric Craig Staal is a Canadian ice hockey player and the captain of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League...
("Staaal") and Chicago BlackhawksChicago BlackhawksThe Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...
forward Kris VersteegKris VersteegKris Versteeg is a Canadian professional ice hockey winger currently playing for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League...
("Vertseeg").
Traditions and anecdotes
Winnipeg Victorias
The Winnipeg Victorias were a former amateur senior-level men's amateur ice hockey team in Winnipeg, Manitoba, organized in 1889. They played in the Manitoba Hockey Association in the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
, dictates that the winning team drink champagne from the top bowl after their victory. The Cup is also traditionally presented on the ice to the captain of the winning team after the series-winning game; each member of the victorious club carries the trophy around the rink. However, this has not always been the case; prior to the 1930s, the Cup was not awarded immediately after the victory. The first time that the Cup was awarded on the ice may have been to the 1932 Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
, but the practice did not become a tradition until the 1950s. Ted Lindsay
Ted Lindsay
Robert Blake Theodore Lindsay is a former professional ice hockey player, a forward for the Detroit Red Wings and Chicago Black Hawks of the National Hockey League . He scored over 800 points in his Hockey Hall of Fame career, won the Art Ross Trophy in 1950, and won the Stanley Cup four times...
of the 1950 Cup champion Detroit Red Wings
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...
became the first captain, upon receiving the Cup, to hoist it overhead and skate around the rink. According to Lindsay, he did so to allow the fans to have a better view of the Cup. Since then, it has been a tradition for each member of the winning team, beginning with the captain, to take a lap around the ice with the trophy hoisted above his head.
The tradition of the captain first hoisting the Cup has been "breached" a few times. In 1993 after the Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
defeated Los Angeles Kings
Los Angeles Kings
The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles, California. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
, Guy Carbonneau
Guy Carbonneau
Guy Carbonneau is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League. He is also the president of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League 's Chicoutimi Saguenéens. He has two daughters Anne-Marie and Kristina, with wife Line Carbonneau. Anne-Marie married his former...
handed the Cup to Denis Savard
Denis Savard
Denis Joseph Savard is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. He played in the National Hockey League from 1980 to 1997, and was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000...
, as Savard had been the player that many fans had urged the Canadiens to draft back in 1980. Another notable exception was in 1998, after the Detroit Red Wings
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...
had defeated the Washington Capitals
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Since their founding in 1974, "The Caps" have won one conference championship to reach the 1998 Stanley Cup...
, when Steve Yzerman
Steve Yzerman
Stephen Gregory "Steve" Yzerman is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player and current general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League...
immediately passed the Cup to Vladimir Konstantinov
Vladimir Konstantinov
Vladimir Nikolaevich Konstantinov is a Russian retired professional ice hockey player who played his entire National Hockey League career with the Detroit Red Wings. Previously, he had played for Soviet club CSKA Moscow...
, whose career with the Red Wings ended due to serious injuries in a limo accident the previous year and had to be wheeled on the ice. The third was involving Joe Sakic
Joe Sakic
Joseph Steven "Joe" Sakic is a former Canadian professional ice hockey player and current hockey executive. He played his entire National Hockey League career with the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche franchise. In his 20-year tenure, Sakic won the Stanley Cup twice, captured numerous NHL...
and Ray Bourque
Ray Bourque
Raymond Jean "Ray" Bourque is a former Canadian professional ice hockey player. He currently holds records for most goals, assists and points by a defenceman in the National Hockey League . Bourque has become near-synonymous with the Boston Bruins franchise, for which he played 21 seasons and...
when the Colorado Avalanche
Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver, Colorado, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Avalanche have won the Stanley Cup twice, in 1995–96 and 2000–01. The franchise...
won the Cup in 2001, as the seventh and deciding game of the Finals would be the last of Bourque's 22-year NHL career, having never been on a Cup-winning team until that time (Bourque had, until being traded to the Avalanche on March 6, 2000, only ever played for the Boston Bruins
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
). When Sakic received the trophy, he did not hoist it, but instead immediately handed it to Bourque; Sakic then became the second player on the team to hoist the trophy. In reverence for the Cup, NHL players will not touch it until they hoist it after winning the playoffs.
The Stanley Cup championship team is allotted 100 days during off-season to pass around the Cup including the team's parade, days with sponsors and a day or so with each player and member of the team's staff. It is always accompanied by at least one representative from the Hockey Hall of Fame
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
. Although many players have unofficially spent a day in personal possession of the Cup, in 1994 the New York Rangers
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
started a tradition wherein each member of the Cup-winning team is allowed to retain the Cup for a day. Victors of the Cup have used it to baptize their children. Two players (the New York Islanders
New York Islanders
The New York Islanders are a professional ice hockey team based in Uniondale, New York. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
' Clark Gillies
Clark Gillies
Clark "Jethro" Gillies is a retired professional ice hockey player. He is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. He provided both physical presence and offensive punch for the NHL's New York Islanders during their four-year run as Stanley Cup champions. In a career that spanned 958 games, Gillies...
and the Anaheim Ducks
Anaheim Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California, USA. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
' Sean O'Donnell
Sean O'Donnell
Sean "O.D." O'Donnell is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who currently plays for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League...
) even allowed their dogs to eat out of the Cup.
Original, authenticated, and replica versions
The authenticated version or "Presentation Cup" was created in 1963 by Montreal silversmith Carl Petersen. NHL president Clarence Campbell
Clarence Campbell
Clarence Sutherland Campbell OBE, QC was the third president of the National Hockey League from 1946 to 1977.-Early life and career:...
felt that the original bowl was becoming too thin and fragile, and thus requested a duplicate trophy as a replacement. The Presentation Cup is authenticated by the seal of the Hockey Hall of Fame on the bottom, which can be seen when winning players lift the Cup over their heads, and it is the one currently awarded to the champions of the playoffs and used for promotions. This version was made in secret, and its production was only revealed three years later.
The replica trophy, called the "Replica Cup", was created in 1993 by Montreal silversmith Louise St. Jacques to be used as a stand-in at the Hockey Hall of Fame whenever the Presentation Cup is not available for display. There are very few differences between the authenticated version and the replica version. The surest way to identify one version from the other is to check the engraving for the 1984 Stanley Cup winning Edmonton Oilers. The authenticated version has x's engraved over Basil Pocklington's name whereas his name is completely missing from the replica version.
As morale booster
The Stanley Cup has served as a valuable morale booster for Canadian troops and their NATO allies. In 2004, the Cup was displayed at MacDill Air Force BaseMacDill Air Force Base
MacDill Air Force Base is an active United States Air Force base located approximately south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida...
, located near Tampa
Tâmpa
Tâmpa may refer to several villages in Romania:* Tâmpa, a village in Băcia Commune, Hunedoara County* Tâmpa, a village in Miercurea Nirajului, Mureş County* Tâmpa, a mountain in Braşov city...
, Florida. The visit gave both American troops and a visiting Canadian unit the thrill of seeing the trophy at close hand. The event was later touted by officials at MacDill as "a huge morale booster for our troops". In 2006, the Cup toured Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune
Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune is a United States military training facility in North Carolina. The base's of beaches make it a major area for amphibious assault training, and its location between two deep-water ports allows for fast deployments.The main base is supplemented by five satellite...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, where wounded Marines
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
were given the opportunity to view and be photographed with the Cup.
In 2007, the Stanley Cup made its first trip into a combat zone. During the trip to Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
, Afghanistan from May 2 to May 6, organized by the NHL, the Hockey Hall of Fame
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
, the NHL Alumni and the Canadian Department of National Defence
Department of National Defence (Canada)
The Department of National Defence , frequently referred to by its acronym DND, is the department within the government of Canada with responsibility for all matters concerning the defence of Canada...
, the Cup was put on display for Canadian and other NATO troops. It briefly came under RPG attack on May 3, but emerged unscathed.
The Stanley Cup did a second tour in Afghanistan as part of a "Team Canada visit" in March 2008. In the spring of 2010 the Stanley Cup made its third trip to Afghanistan, accompanied by hockey greats Doug Jarvis
Doug Jarvis
Douglas M. Jarvis is a former Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the Montreal Canadiens, Washington Capitals and Hartford Whalers in the National Hockey League. He currently serves as an assistant coach for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League.-Playing career:Doug...
, Tiger Williams
Tiger Williams
David James "Tiger" Williams is a former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League from 1974–75 to 1987–88. He is the NHL's career leader in penalty minutes.-NHL career:...
and Lanny McDonald
Lanny McDonald
Lanny King McDonald is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Rockies and Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League . He played over 1,100 games during a 16-year NHL career in which he scored 500 goals and over 1,000 points...
.
On June 27, 2010, Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brent Sopel
Brent Sopel
Brent Sopel is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing the Kontinental Hockey League and previously the National Hockey League .-Vancouver Canucks:...
paid tribute to his friend, Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke and Burke's late son, Brendan
Brendan Burke
Brendan Gilmore Burke was an athlete and student manager at Miami University for the RedHawks men's ice hockey team...
, by accompanying the Cup to the 2010 Chicago Gay Pride Parade
Chicago Pride Parade
The Chicago Pride Parade, also colloquially called the Chicago Gay Pride Parade or PRIDE Chicago, is the annual gay pride parade held on the last Sunday of June in Chicago, Illinois in the United States...
. According to Sopel, it was not considered his personal day with the Cup.
See also
- Clarkson CupClarkson CupThe Clarkson Cup is an ice hockey trophy, which since 2009 has been awarded to the winner of the Canadian Women's Hockey Championship. Like the Stanley Cup, it was created by and named after a former Governor General of Canada: Adrienne Clarkson....
- Gagarin CupGagarin CupThe Gagarin Cup is the trophy presented to the winner of the Kontinental Hockey League playoffs, and is named after cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space...
, a KHL trophy that serves a similar function - Avco World TrophyAvco World TrophyThe Avco World Trophy, also known as the Avco Cup, was the championship trophy of the original World Hockey Association . The trophy's naming rights were sold to the former Avco Corporation , a defense contractor who bought the rights to advertise their consumer finance division...
was awarded champion of the defunct World Hockey AssociationWorld Hockey AssociationThe World Hockey Association was a professional ice hockey league that operated in North America from 1972 to 1979. It was the first major competition for the National Hockey League since the collapse of the Western Hockey League in 1926... - List of awards presented by the Governor General of Canada
- List of awards named after Governors General of Canada
- List of NHL franchise post-season appearance streaks
- List of NHL franchise post-season droughts
- List of Stanley Cup challenge games
- List of Stanley Cup champions