The Long, Strange Trip Of Lord Stanley's Cup
By Chuck Sudo in News on Jun 27, 2013 9:45PM
For the second time in four years, Chicago is in the throes of Stanley Cup mania. People have been monitoring social media, like reporters listen to police scanners searching for a crime story, for clues as to where the Chicago Blackhawks will bring the Stanley Cup to next.
The trophy awarded to the National Hockey League champion is the oldest in professional sports and arguably its most famous. Originally called the Dominion Challenge Cup, it was purchased by Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor General of Canada, in 1892 for 10 guineas, or $48.67 in American dollars at the time. It was first presented in 1893 to the Montreal AAAs (Amateur Athletic Association).
The original Cup is made from silver and measures seven inches high and 11.5 inches in diameter. It was retired in 1970 because it became too brittle to travel anymore. The current Cup and the bands added to the bottom of bowl are made from silver and nickel alloy, bringing the weight of the Cup to 35 pounds. The tradition of engraving the names of players on the Cup began in 1907 with the Montreal Wanderers. (Two of the bands are also retired and reside with the original Cup in the Hockey Hall of Fame.)
It’s also the only trophy in professional sports where each member of a championship team can spend 24 hours with it. Lord Stanley’s first condition set forth for the Cup was “The winners to return the Cup in good order when required by the trustees in order that it may be handed over to any other team which may win it.”
Since 2001, the Stanley Cup has logged more than 800,000 miles of travel and been to Afghanistan, Russia, Czech Republic, Sweden, Finland, Japan, Austria, Germany, Italy, England, Belarus, Ukraine, Belgium, Afghanistan, Dubai, France, the Bahamas, and the Arctic Circle. Over the 120-year lifespan of the Cup, it’s seen its fair share of dings, dents, cracks, neglect and general abuse. So many fluids have been sipped from the Cup that something as foul-tasting as Jeppson’s Malort—should it touch the Cup—could feasibly serve as a disinfectant. The Stanley Cup has been to so many bars, strip clubs, and been the center of so much general debauchery that it could be called an original bro. Which is why it’s assigned a 24-hour watchman, the Keeper of the Cup. That position is currently held by Phil Pritchard, who has his hands full right now negotiating the logistics for Friday’s parade and rally to honor the Blackhawks Cup win earlier this week.
The Keeper presents the Cup to each individual winning team member with gloved hands. After that, it’s up to the hockey players to return it in one piece. But that hasn’t always happened Here are some high(low)lights of the Cup’s travels.
- In 1905 the Ottawa Hockey Club won their seventh consecutive Stanley Cup. One night the team gathered over drinks at the Rideau Canal when one of the players decided to try and punt it over the canal. Instead, the Cup landed in the river, where the players later recovered it, slightly dented.
- The New York Rangers decided to celebrate their Stanley Cup win in 1940 and the end of mortgage payments on Madison Square Garden by burning the mortgage note in the Cup, which led to the whole thing catching fire. The Rangers players urinated on the Cup to put out the fire and the team would not win another title until 1994.
- In 1961, Montreal Canadiens fan Ken Kilander was so upset over the Habs’ Stanley Cup loss to the Blackhawks he smashed the glass case containing the Cup and tried to steal it. Kilander was caught by security before he could get away. Another story about the incident has Kilander paying off a guard to let him steal it. Either way, it marked the last Cup win for the Hawks until 2010.
- In 1992 the Pittsburgh Penguins brought the Cup to a pool party at Mario Lemieux’s home when the team decided to see if the Cup would float. The Cup quickly took on water and sank to the bottom of the pool, where the rubber-ringed base served as a suction making it impossible to dislodge. Eventually the Cup was removed, a little worse for wear.
- The New York Rangers, not heeding the actions of their 1940 counterparts, had added security in addition to the Keeper around them at all times. And they needed it. Mark Messier brought it to his favorite Edmonton strip club and Ed Olczyk, now the lead analyst for NBC Sports’ NHL broadcasts and the Blackhawks color analyst, fed a thoroughbred horse from the Cup at Belmont race track.
- The Blackhawks 2010 go-round with the Stanley Cup saw it become the first major sports trophy to participate in a gay pride parade. Andrew Ladd had him and the Cup helicoptered to the top of Crown Mountain, British Columbia. Patrick Kane took the Cup with him to Niagara Falls.