Stanley Cup - Award given to the NHL champion at the end of the championship. This is a silver bowl with a base in the form of a cylinder 90 cm high. The cup is the most expensive award in modern professional sports. Unlike other American cups, the Stanley Cup is a challenge trophy. The champion team owns it until a new winner of the championship is determined. Other awards are made each year.
Stanley Cup History
In 1882, Governor-General of Canada F.A. Stanley purchased a decorative bowl in one of London's stores. A memorial plaque is placed on this building. Soon, the hockey champions of Canada started serving the cup. Amateur clubs participated in the tournament. Stanley introduced the first rules for the cup winner:
- the trophy was awarded to the winner of the championship, in which the previous cup winner participated;
- the trophy is a rolling award;
- disputes are resolved by the trustees of the trophy;
- the champion has the right to inscribe the cup.
First owners
In 1983, the first club to receive the cup was the Montreal AAA team. A year later, the award was again presented to this club for winning the Amateur League. The following season, another Montreal hockey team, Victoris, won the cup. At the same time, the winners ignored the final of the competition. They were replaced by the previous award holder. The Montreal AAA team defeated the Kingston student team and donated the Victoris trophy. Since 1908, the cup has been awarded to professional hockey teams. In 1927, the NHL champion received the cup for the first time.
In 1964, jeweler Karl Peterson made a copy of the silver alloy award. It is she who is presented to the players during the award ceremony. Trophy weight -15 kg. Since the 70s, the trophy has been played in the playoffs, in which the 16 best teams of the championship participate. Teams compete in a series of up to 4 victories. Since 1993, 4 clubs from each NHL division have entered the playoffs. Winners of divisions and conferences are also awarded trophies. Since the 90s, 8 teams from each conference have been entering the playoffs. Since 2013, the top 3 teams from each division have entered the playoffs. 2 clubs from each conference are added to them. The names of new NHL champions by year are engraved on the cup. In 1991, the tape with the names of the champions was removed from the cup and changed to new ones. Old hoops are kept in the NHL Hall of Fame. They have a complete list of NHL champions. The original building holds the original trophy.
Travel with a cup
Any NHL champion has the right to bring an award to his hometown. Over the past 5 years, the award has covered a distance of 640 thousand km. In 1997, the cup was brought to Russia for the first time. Detroit hockey players I. Larionov, V. Fetisov, V. Kozlov, S. Fedorov, V. Konstantinov became its owners.
NHL Champions Traditions
In 1986, the Winnipeg Victoris team celebrated their victory in the championship by drinking champagne from a cup cup. Since then, any NHL champion has followed this tradition. Since 1950, the cup has been awarded to the captain of the winning team immediately after the decisive match. After the award ceremony, each champion must complete a lap of honor with an award in his hands. Since 1995, each player in the winning team receives a personal use award for a day. The trophy is accompanied by one of the members of the Hockey Hall of Fame. In 1998, the captain of “Edmonton” W. Gretzky gathered on the ice hockey players, coaches and team members for a joint photo. Every next champion follows this tradition.
In 1993, the captain of “Montreal” G. Corbano ceded the right to raise the Dani Savaro Cup. Veteran took part in the finals for the first time. In 1997, the player, “Detroit” V. Konstantinov had an accident. A year later, his club won the trophy. Detroit captain S. Aizerman handed the cup to Konstantinov, who made a lap of honor in a wheelchair. His name was engraved on the cup along with the names of champions as an exception.
There is a superstition according to which hockey players should not touch trophies until they win the main one by right. For this reason, players do not touch the rewards for winning the division and the conference until the end of the championship. Although some captains took trophies and won the Stanley Cup after that. For example, this season the captain of “Washington” A. Ovechkin raised the goblet of the conference. This did not stop his club from winning the main trophy.
If the trophy is won by the American team, then it receives an invitation to the White House to meet with the president.
Interesting Facts
The Canadian club last won the NHL Champions Cup in 1993. In 1905, the Otava hockey player tried to throw the cup through a frozen channel. The attempt was unsuccessful. The cup was found only the next day. In 1906, the Montreal Wonderds team forgot the award in the photographer’s studio. His mother used the bowl as a flower pot. In 1925, the sons of the Victoria Cougars coach scribbled their names on the trophy. In 1940, they won the New York Rangers Cup. The leadership of the team burned mortgage documents in the cup. NHL champions use trophies not only as champagne containers. With the help of the cup, children were baptized, various foods were cooked in it, dogs were fed from it.