Stanley Cup facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Stanley Cup |
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| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Competition | Stanley Cup playoffs |
| Given for | Playoff champion of the National Hockey League (NHL) |
| History | |
| First award | 1893 |
| First winner | Montreal Hockey Club (4) (AHAC) |
| Most wins | Montreal Canadiens (24) |
| Most recent | Florida Panthers (2) |
The Stanley Cup (French: La Coupe Stanley) is the famous championship trophy given to the winner of the National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs each year. It's the oldest trophy in North American professional sports. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) calls it one of the most important awards in hockey.
The trophy was first created in 1892 as the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup. It is named after Lord Stanley of Preston, who was the Governor General of Canada. He donated the cup to be an award for Canada's best amateur ice hockey team. The first team to win it was the Montreal Hockey Club in 1893.
Today, there are three Stanley Cups. The first is the original bowl from 1892. The second is the "Presentation Cup," which is the one awarded to players. The third is the "Permanent Cup," which stays at the Hockey Hall of Fame. The NHL doesn't own the trophy but has an agreement to use it.
Unlike many other sports trophies, a new Stanley Cup is not made every year. Instead, winning players, coaches, and staff have their names engraved on bands at the bottom. When a band is full, it is removed and put on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame, and a new blank band is added. This makes the trophy a living piece of hockey history. The trophy is often called The Cup or Lord Stanley's Mug. One of its most famous traditions is the winning team celebrating with it after their victory.
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History of the Stanley Cup
After Lord Stanley of Preston became Canada's Governor General in 1888, he and his family fell in love with ice hockey. His sons, Arthur and Algernon, even started their own team. They convinced their father to donate a trophy to serve as a symbol of the Canadian hockey championship.
In 1892, Lord Stanley bought a silver bowl for about $50. He had "Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup" engraved on one side and "From Stanley of Preston" on the other. His goal was to have a prize that the best amateur hockey team in Canada could compete for each year.
The Challenge Era
In the early days, the Stanley Cup was a "challenge" trophy. This meant that a team could challenge the current champion to a game or series to win the Cup. The first team to be awarded the Cup in 1893 was the Montreal Hockey Club, who were the champions of the top league at the time.
This challenge system continued for many years. In 1896, the Winnipeg Victorias became the first team from outside of Quebec to win the Cup. As the sport grew, professional players were allowed to compete for the Cup starting in 1906. The smallest town to ever win the Stanley Cup was Kenora, Ontario, in 1907, which had a population of only about 4,000 people.
A New Championship Format
By 1914, the top professional leagues agreed to have their champions play each other for the Stanley Cup. This was similar to how baseball's World Series works. The championship series would alternate between the East and West coasts each year.
In 1917, the Seattle Metropolitans became the first American team to win the Cup. That same year, the National Hockey League (NHL) was formed.
The 1919 Stanley Cup Finals were famously cancelled because of the Spanish flu epidemic. The series was tied, but so many players from the Montreal Canadiens became sick that the final game could not be played. It was the first time the Cup was not awarded.
The NHL Takes Over
By 1926, the NHL had become the strongest professional hockey league. Other leagues had folded or lost their best players to the NHL. From that year on, only NHL teams have competed for the Stanley Cup, making it the league's official championship trophy. In 1947, the NHL made a formal agreement with the Cup's trustees to gain full control over the competition.
The Cup has been awarded every year since, with one exception. In 2005, the NHL season was cancelled due to a labor dispute between the league and the players. It was the only time other than 1919 that the Stanley Cup was not awarded.
Engraving the Cup
One of the most unique things about the Stanley Cup is that the names of the winners are engraved on it. This tradition started with the first winners, but it wasn't until 1924 that it became an annual practice.
How the Cup Grew
Originally, teams added a new ring to the bottom of the Cup each year. Over time, the trophy got so tall that it was nicknamed the "Stovepipe Cup." In 1948, it was redesigned to be smaller.
In 1958, the modern one-piece Cup was created. It has a barrel with five bands. Each band can hold the names of 13 winning teams. When the bottom band is full, the top band is removed and placed in the Hockey Hall of Fame. A new blank band is then added to the bottom. This means a team's name stays on the trophy for about 52 to 65 years.
Who Gets Their Name on the Cup?
To have a name engraved on the Stanley Cup, a person usually must meet certain rules. A player must have played in at least half of the regular-season games or at least one game of the Stanley Cup Finals. Teams can also ask for special permission to add a name for a player who couldn't play due to special circumstances.
Over 3,000 names have been engraved on the Cup. Henri Richard of the Montreal Canadiens has his name on it 11 times as a player, more than anyone else. Twenty women have also had their names engraved, mostly as team owners or executives.
Mistakes on the Cup
Over the years, a few mistakes have been made by the engravers. Some players' names have been misspelled, and some team names have errors. For example, the 1963 Toronto Maple Leafs were spelled "TORONTO MAPLE LEAES," and the 1972 Boston Bruins were spelled "BQSTQN BRUINS." Most of these mistakes have been left as part of the trophy's quirky history, but a few have been corrected.
Traditions of the Stanley Cup
Many traditions surround the Stanley Cup. One of the oldest is for the winning team to drink champagne from the bowl.
The On-Ice Celebration
After the final game, the NHL Commissioner presents the Cup on the ice to the winning team's captain. In 1950, Ted Lindsay of the Detroit Red Wings became the first captain to lift the Cup over his head and skate a lap around the rink. He wanted the fans to get a better view. Since then, it has become a tradition for every member of the team to take a lap with the Cup.
Sometimes, the captain passes the trophy to another player first. In 2001, Colorado Avalanche captain Joe Sakic handed the Cup to Ray Bourque. Bourque had played for 22 years without winning a championship, and it was the last game of his career.
A Day with the Cup
Each member of the winning team gets to spend one day with the Stanley Cup during the summer. A representative from the Hockey Hall of Fame always travels with the Cup to keep it safe. Players have taken the Cup all over the world. They have used it to baptize their children, taken it to the top of mountains, and even let their pets eat out of it.
The Cup has also been used as a morale booster. It has been taken to military bases in the United States, Canada, and even to a combat zone in Afghanistan to be shared with soldiers.
The Three Stanley Cups
There are three versions of the Stanley Cup:
- The Original Cup: This is the bowl that Lord Stanley donated in 1892. It became too fragile to be used, so it is now kept in a special vault at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
- The Presentation Cup: This is the "official" Cup that you see today. It was made in 1963 as a replacement for the original. This is the trophy that is awarded to the players on the ice and that they take home for their day with the Cup.
- The Permanent Cup: This is an exact replica of the Presentation Cup. It was made in 1993 and is displayed at the Hockey Hall of Fame when the Presentation Cup is traveling.
Images for kids
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The first Stanley Cup
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Syl Apps with the "Stovepipe Cup" before it was redesigned in the 1940s.
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The inscription for the cancelled 2004–05 season reads "SEASON NOT PLAYED".
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The Lord Stanley's Gift Monument in Ottawa, Canada.
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The name of Basil Pocklington, the father of the Edmonton Oilers' owner, was scratched out with X's because he was not part of the team.
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The Stanley Cup at a state luncheon at the United States Department of State in 2016.
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Players and team staff often celebrate by drinking from the Cup, as seen here in 1974.
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See also
In Spanish: Copa Stanley para niños
- Avco World Trophy, a trophy for a past hockey league
- List of awards named after governors general of Canada
- List of awards presented by the governor general of Canada
- List of NHL franchise post-season appearance streaks
- List of NHL franchise post-season droughts
- List of Stanley Cup challenge games
- List of Stanley Cup champions
- Lord Derby Cup, a rugby league trophy named after Lord Stanley's son
