It’s hockey season in America. Even though the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup Playoffs are still a few months away, professional hockey teams are vying for their chance to hoist the iconic Lord Stanley’s Cup, North America’s oldest sports trophy, high above their heads as they skate around in jubilation.
Look how small the Stanley Cup is in this colorized pic from 1897. That's the year the trophy was awarded to the Montreal Victorias. (pinterest)
As these colorized photos show us, the Stanley Cup has a long and fascinating history. Since the late 1800s, the Stanley Cup has evolved into one of the very symbols of professional hockey. But there is more to the Stanley Cup story than you think.
More Than a Century Old
Photograph of the Stanley Cup, addressed to the Winnipeg Victorias, 1902. Shaped like a bowl mounted on a pedestal, the Cup was first presented in 1893, originally intended for the top amateur hockey team in Canada. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
You already know that the Stanley Cup is the oldest sports trophy in North America, but exactly how old is it? The Stanley Cup is 129 years old. It was a lot smaller back then, measuring only a little over seven inches tall when it was presented to its first winning team, the Montreal Hockey Club. At that time, the winner of the trophy was determined by challenge games. It wasn’t until 1906, that the professional teams could win the trophy.
Who Was Lord Stanley?
A colorized photo of Lord Stanley of Preston, the man we have to thank for the Stanley Cup. (nationalpost.com)
In 1888, Queen Victoria appointed Lord Stanley of Preston to serve as the Governor-General of Canada. At that time, Lord Stanley and his family moved to Canada. A short time later, while at the Winter Carnival in Montreal, Lord Stanley saw his first hockey game. He became a fan after that. In fact, his whole family embraced the sport. This was an exciting time for hockey in Canada. New teams and leagues were being formed. Arthur and Algernon, two of Lord Stanley’s sons, established a team, too. They called it the Ottawa Rideau Hall Rebels. Arthur later helped to form the Ontario Hockey Association.
A Bowl? A Cup?
A colorized photo of the 1900 Stanley Cup winners, the Ottawa Silver Seven. (silversevensens.com)
It was Arthur and Algernon who asked their dad, Lord Stanley, if he could donate a trophy to present to the hockey champions of the season. Lord Stanley agreed. He purchased a silver punch bowl for ten guineas. In today’s dollars, that would be about $1400. He had the bowl engraved to say “Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup” on one side and “From Stanley of Preston” on the other side. Folk referred to it simply as the “Stanley Cup”. In fact, the first time it was called that in the media was on May 1, 1893, in the headline of an article in the Ottawa Journal.
The Stanley Cup and the NHL
In this colorized pic for the 1937 Stanley Cup winners, the Detroit Red Wings, we can see how the trophy is growing taller. (nhl.com)
Originally, Lord Stanley planned for the cup that bears his name to be awarded to the winner of a championship between Canada’s best amateur hockey teams … and that’s exactly what happened for the first 13 years of the trophy’s history. In 1907, however, the winners of the Stanley Cup were the Montreal Wanderers, a team that had recently declared themselves professional. The National Hockey Association – the forerunner of the National Hockey League – was organized in 1910. They set up a championship series at the end of each season. They even included teams based in the United States. When the Portland Rosebuds beat the Montreal Canadiens in 1916, they became the first U.S. team to win the Stanley Cup.
A Growing Trophy
The Stanley Cup is still not three-feet tall in this colorized pic from 1940, when the trophy was presented to the Toronto Maple Leaves. (nhl.com)
As per the rules set forth by Lord Stanley, the winning team can have the names of all their players, coaches, and staff engraved on the cup. The teams can add a ring to the trophy to accommodate this. With each ring, the trophy grew. By the end of the 1930s, the Stanley Cup had morphed from a simple bowl to a large and weighty trophy with a barrel-shaped base on which the original cup is mounted. In 1958, a decision was made to keep the trophy from becoming too big. The NHL decided to standardize the Stanley Cup. Thereafter, the trophy has included the original bowl, three-tiered bands, a collar, and five additional basebands. Rings with engraved names are ‘retired’ from the trophy and housed in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Today, it is roughly three feet tall and weighs 37 pounds.
There Is No Spell Check on the Stanley Cup
We get is ... that silent "s" in "Islanders" is tricky. (foxnews.com)
Oops, the Stanley Cup has its share of typos. The iconic trophy might look great from a distance, but up close, you will notice some misspellings and errors … even a bunch of Xs that cross out whole words. Look for the 1962 Toronto Maple “Leas”, the 1981 New York “Ilanders”, and the 1972 “Bqstqn” Bruins. The most recent player name to be botched on the Stanley Cup was in 1996 when Avalanche player Adam Deadmarsh’s name was spelled “Deadmarch”.
The Stanley Cup in the Off-Season
At 37 pounds and 3 feet tall, the Stanley Cup is a cumbersome trophy. (stadiumtalk.com)
Did you know that the Stanley Cup is the only sports trophy with its own official keeper? It’s true. The NHL has an especially designated ‘Keeper of the Cup’ who is charged with taking the Stanley Cup to all its special appearances. It is a busy off-season for the Stanley Cup. It (and its keeper) is on the road nearly half the year, attending various events, promotional engagements, and photo ops. Once, in 1996, Sylvain Lefebvre, a defenseman for the Florida Panthers, that year’s Stanley Cup winners, had his baby daughter baptized in the Stanley Cup. How cool is that!
