Of all the championship cups, none can be compared to the historical sentiment and recognition that the Stanley Cup possesses. Hockey has done an outstanding job of keeping its history alive and promoting its passion. Great records have been set, some of which may never be matched, while others have been eventually broken.
If you love the NHL, you should know how the Stanley Cup came into existence. The Stanley Cup was first awarded during the 1892–1893 season and is the oldest trophy that professional players in Canada may win. The cup, which bears his name, was given by Canadian governor general Frederick Arthur, Lord Stanley of Preston.
The NHL became the owner of the Cup in 1926, and since then, it has been awarded to the best team in every season. The Cup has so much sentiment that fans even place Stanley Cup betting on the trophy.
Most NHL fans indeed know about the Stanley Cup, but there are some facts that most people do not know about the cup. We shall discuss some of those unique facts below.
There are three of the Stanley Cup.
The Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, also known as Stanley’s first cup from 1892 and awarded until 1970, is presently on display in the Vault Room at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
The Presentation Cup, still used today, was developed in 1963 because NHL president Clarence Campbell thought the original cup had grown too fragile to award to champion teams.
The last cup is a copy of the Presentation Cup, a substitute used in the Hall of Fame while the original was unavailable. It was made in 1993 by Montreal silversmith Louise St. Jacques.
The cup is one of a kind.
It’s not customary to produce a new cup yearly, unlike other major league sports awards. Instead, the names of the victorious team’s players, coaches, management, and staff are added to the cup following each title.
The 1906–07 Montreal Wanderers were the first team to have its roster engraved; their names were engraved inside the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup’s inner bowl. The 1914–15 Vancouver Millionaires are the only other team names inscribed on the inner bowl.
The rings are detachable.
Five bands of championship names have been inscribed around the base of the cup since 1958. The oldest band is taken off when the rings are filled and stored in Lord Stanley’s Vault in the Great Esso Hall of the Hockey Hall of Fame. It is then replaced by an empty band waiting to be filled with the names of the subsequent champions.
There are currently no championship team names on the cup from 1928–1929 to the 1964–1965 seasons.
Some believe that the Cup is jinxed.
To avoid jeopardizing their team’s chances of winning the Stanley trophy, some players on conference champion teams refuse to touch the Campbell Bowl or Prince of Wales Trophy. Different players fear the cup if they haven’t taken it home before and avoid it if they’re still in contention.
Each player on the winning team gets to own the cup for a day.
The NHL gives each winning team 100 off-season days to do as they like with the cup (along with the keeper, of course). The custom of allowing each player one private day with the cup over the offseason was established by the New Jersey Devils in 1994–1995.
The Hall of Fame has been documenting the journeys of the cup with each winning team since the 2003 campaign. While some athletes spend their time with the trophy in contemplation, others have gone a little bonkers with the Lord Stanley’s Cup.
The Montreal Canadians won the cup in 1924 and forgot it by the roadside.
The 1924 Stanley Cup champion Canadians’ players had to remove the cup from the trunk to access the spare tire while traveling to the team’s banquet at owner Leo Dandurand’s home. The players swiftly changed the tire and headed to the party to celebrate their victory.
The cup was missing when it was time for each participant to sip champagne from the silver bowl as per custom. It was abandoned at the side of the road by the players. The cup was in a snowbank when they went back to get it.
Three babies have been baptized in the Cup.
Defenseman Sylvain Lefebvre used his personal day with the trophy after the Colorado Avalanche won the 1995–96 championship to christen his daughter in the top bowl.
To baptize his cousin’s 7-week-old daughter, Swedish left winger Tomas Holmström carried the trophy back to his home country after the Detroit Red Wings won in 2007–08. John Archibald, a forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins, did the same thing to his little kid in 2017.
