Who is Stanley of the NHL Stanley Cup?

Well, here we are.... after the grueling 82 game regular season, we are ready to see who is going to lift the chalice of Lord Stanley! The NHL will begin the Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 11 with sixteen teams vying for the right to lift the ultimate prize, something the general public can only touch and kiss, as I had the opportunity to in Toronto in July of last year. But what is it behind a 33 pound piece of silver that the fans of North America go to such extremes to see their favorite NHL team grab a 33 pound piece of molded silver?

I guess I can start this story by explaining MY passion for the cup. I was a Detroit Red Wings fan growing up, and got to see them lift their first Cup in 42 years in 1997. This curse they were under was as old than my father, and the fans of Detroit had been under its spell, while still hoping that one day one of the oldest teams in hockey finally got what was theirs in their lifetime. In 1996, the Red Wings won 62 games and recorded 131 points, NHL records that still reside in Detroit eleven years later. Yet, they could not win the Stanley Cup, as they lost a grueling semifinal series to the eventual champion Colorado Avalanche.

A year later, the Wings found themselves back in the semifinals against Colorado. Only this time, after six games of fighting, blood, and smashmouth hockey, the Wings found themselves in the final. The relentless Wings swept the Philadelphia Flyers ind ominating fashion, and the drought ended in one glorious smash right there in Joe Louis Arena. I became more of a fan as I followed them through the defense of the cup in 1998. That year, two of the Wings players and a trainer were injured in a limosuine crash. Vladamir Konstantinov, a Wing since he and many other russians defected to the NHL after the collapse of the Soviet Union, was brain damaged in the crash, and was forced to retire from the NHL. The unity of the team, and the ability to put hockey aside for their fellow man, made me like them. And, when one of my favorite players, then-Red Wing Sergei Fedorov, was talked by the Wings into taking less money than he wanted, I declared myself a Wings fan for life. That year, the Wings swept the Washington Capitals, and repeated as champion. Four years later, following my graduation from high school, the Wings, via a five game win over Carolina, gave me what I call my graduation present: another Stanley Cup.

The Stanley Cup is the ultimate championship of professional hockey.The cup was born by the hand of the Governor General of Canada, Frederick Stanley, better known as the Lord Stanley of Preston. In 1888, Lord Stanley became very interested in hockey after watching a game in Montreal during a carnival in the city. This was a time when organized hockey was still in diapers, and Montreal boasted the only real leagues. During this time, his sons and daughter were playing, and they played a key role in the Ontario Hockey Association being formed. After the formation, Lord Stanley's sons began pushing their dad to donate a trophy worthy of being the ultimate goal for all hockey players in Canada. When his sons won the OHA title in 1892, Lord Stanley was unable to attend a banquet in his teams honor, so he sent this message:

"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."

Lord Stanley proceeded to comission a London silversmith to forge a decorative piece and ship it to Canada with the words "Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup From Stanley of Preston" in it. The price for that bowl was roughly $48 USD. He then made rules for which the cup was to be given out:

• 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.

And so, the Stanley Cup was born, and ever since Lord Stanley of Preston gave the cup to an amatuer hockey team from Montreal in 1893, it has been competed for across North America. When Montreal AAA won the first Stanley Cup, they began a tradition of accepting challenges by other league championship teams. But, after the team Montreal defeated complained, trustees issued new governance, as follows:

• 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.

Lord Stanley returned to England after his term as Governor General ended, having never seen a single Stanley Cup game.

In 1915, the National Hockey Association, the NHL's precursor, and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association reached an agreement that would find the two champions facing eachother each year for the cup. When both leagues folded, and the NHL was in it's infancy, the NHL took control of the cup in 1926 unofficially, and finally officially in 1947.

Tradition has long dictated the Cup as the only one of its kind. When the NFL, MLB and NBA remake their trophies and let the winner keep them, the Stanley Cup is coughed up by a team once their reign is over, then awaits a new champion, who must return the Cup when their reign ends.

More tradition: the Cup is handed off to the Captain of the winning team, who is the first one to hoist it. This practice is the most often broken from. Example: in 1998, Vladimir Konstantinov, whos career ending injury was the emotional spark that led the Red Wings to the 1998 Stanley Cup, was given the cup microseconds after captain Steve Yzerman half-heartedly raised it. Another example was in 2001, when the Colorado Avalanche defeated New Jersey. Avalanche captain Joe Sakic handed it off immediately to Ray Borque without even hoisting it, and gave Borque first dibs of a cup he had waited 22 years to hoist. The next year, when the Red Wings won the cup again, Wings captain Steve Yzerman took the cup and gave first lift rights to retiring coach Scotty Bowman.

Another tradition is generally superstition, and that is that players do not even want to touch the cup until it is rightfully earned. Adding to this is that players choose not to touch the conference championship trophy because of their belief that the Stanley Cup is the only trophy worthy of touching, a light insult, yet a heavy traditional tool that often works. The tradition was broken in 1991 and 1992 by current Pittsburgh Penguin owner Mario Lemieux, who lifted the Prince of Wales trophy in both years his Penguins won the cup. The tradition has not fared so well for many Stanley Cup runner-ups. In 2002, the Hurricanes paraded around the ice with the Prince of Wales Trophy, and then lost in the finals. Washington did the same in 1998 and got swept, and Calgary paraded the Campbell Trophy around and ended up losing to Tampa Bay, who refused to even recognize the existence of their trophy. And, last year, Carolina did it better. After touching the Prince of Wales trophy in 2002, they refused to even look at it in 2006, and won the Cup shortly thereafter.

Players also get one day of personal time with the Stanley Cup after winning it, leading to a trek around the world. The trophy has been found swimming in Mario Lemieux's pool, named as a second in one coaches fishing expedition, found acting as a flower pot, discovered as quite the actor in a soap opera, and recieved high praises in ESPN commercials. The Cup has ridden shotgun in many automobiles, ferris wheels, helicopters, roller coasters, and even as a rider on a jetski. It was once nominated for a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and has been made to shine on Letterman. It has also served as a best man at a wedding, the bearer of an engagement ring, and it carried holy water during a baptismal. It has also been a rallying point for wounded Marines and has toured the frontlines of the war on terror.

It has also been the site for several curses. In 1940, the mortgage on Madison Square Garden in New York was paid off, and the papers burned in the Cup. The fans clained the act was a desecration, and the Curse of 1940 kept the New York Rangers 54 years removed from another Stanley Cup. It has acted as a dentist as well, as it has chipped the teeth of a player who drank from it. It was also a crime scene for . In 1961, a fan of the runner up Montreal Canadiens stole the cup and was arrested. His defense was that he was bringing the Cup back to Montreal where he claimed it belonged. It has also been sent to the hospital, after the trophy was badly damaged after being dropped in a bonfire, damage Toronto had to pay for. It has also been desecrated by a baby, repaired at an auto shop in Alberta, and served as a feeding dish for a Kentucky Derby winner. In 2003, the Ner Jersey Devils gave the cup for the day to Martin Brodeur, who took it to the movies and ate popcorn from it, resulting in butter and salt damage before it was cleaned by a team mate.

The 2007 Stanley Cup champions will have players that will have to replicate the respect for tradition that has so many people wanting more. It will be awhile still before a champion is decided, but rest assured that it will give sixteen rosters time to decide how they are going to respect tradition.