What Sets Stanley Apart?
True hockey fans will be the first to say that their sport has the best trophy. The truth is, we do. For one thing, the Stanley Cup goes to the players first, instead of the owners. You may even notice some coaches step back and let their players raise it first. Coming in at 34.5 pounds and standing at 35.25 inches it is truly something that you have to lift above your head.
The Stanley Cup you see is the same Stanley that Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux have lifted above their heads. Unlike other teams, a new trophy is not made every year. Instead, players get to raise the exact Cup they dreamt of raising as children. The Cup also gets the names of players, coaches, management and staff of the winning team permanently engraved on them. If you win the Cup, your name will go down in hockey history.
The players actually get the Cup for a day. Unlike other sports, the players themselves get to take the Cup to their hometown and enjoy a day with it. The NHL allows the winning team to spend 100 off-season days with the Cup, but who was the first to give each player a day with it?
That was the 1994-95 New Jersey Devils who made the tradition what we know today. They started giving it to each player and front office member for a day. Since the Devils won the Cup again in 2003, the Hall of Fame has been keeping a journal of Stanleyâs travels.
Whereâs Stanley?
Stanley has been all over the world â even to Afghanistan â all accompanied by its keeper, of course. Phil Pritchard has been the keeper of the Cup since 1991 and travels everywhere the Cup goes. His journeys with the Cup can be found on his Twitter. When Lord Stanley donated the Cup he made sure to mandate that two trustees would always ensure that the Cup remained safe. Currently, Brian OâNeill and Ian Morrison are those two trustees and have absolute power over all matters regarding the Stanley Cup. When handling the Cup, these men always wear white gloves.
Stanley Records
The youngest player to ever win the Cup was Larry Hillman. He was just 18 years, 2Â months, and 9 days old when the Detroit Red Wings won the Cup in 1955.
Chris Chelios was the oldest player to win the Cup. He was 46 years, 6 months when he won the Cup with Detroit in 2008.
Henri Richard, brother of Maurice Richard, has his name on the Cup 11 times as a player.
Scotty Bowman has his name on the Cup nine times as a coach, split between the Penguins, Red Wings and Canadiens.
The Montreal Canadiens are the winningest team in Cup history with 24 Stanley Cup victories to their name. They won it five years in a row between 1956 and 1960. Only the 1976 to 1979 Canadiens and 1980 to 1984 New York Islanders have four consecutive wins.
The only eighth-seed team to ever win the Stanley Cup were the 2012 Los Angeles Kings.
Two babies have been baptized in the Cup. The first was Sylvain Lefebvreâs daughter, who was baptised after the Colorado Avalanche won in 1996. The second was Tomas Holmströmâs niece. The Detroit forward allowed his cousin to baptize his seven-week-old daughter in the bowl when the Red Wings won in 2008.
The costliest celebration was the 2011 Bruins celebration at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods. They managed to rack up a $156,679.74 tab at the bar that was partially helped by a $100,000 bottle of champagne.