Why the Stanley Cup is the best trophy in sports
Hockey may be far from the most popular sport in America, but the NHL’s Stanley Cup is without a doubt the best trophy among the major professional sports leagues.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs got underway on Wednesday, which means most casual sports fans are getting their first glimpse of the NHL this season.
Toronto Sun soccer columnist Kurtis Larson is the latest to point out how indifferent the majority of the world is to the sport of hockey.
Sadly, this is not an exaggeration. In fact, it is quite a common question.
So for all of the people around the world who find themselves asking, “What is the Stanley Cup?”, I have an answer. The greatest trophy in sports.
Does it have worldwide significance? Not at all. Considering it is a trophy for a league based in America, consisting of players from just a handful of countries, it is pretty reasonable to expect a large portion of the world to be oblivious to the trophy.
But the greatness of Lord Stanley’s Cup, regardless of the sport’s popularity, is unquestioned.
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Dating back to 1892, it is the oldest trophy in North American sports. In fact, the Stanley Cup is older than the NHL itself, as it was originally awarded to Canada’s hockey champion before the league’s creation.
Lord Stanley, the Governor General of Canada at the time and the man who donated the trophy, set forth the following conditions to ensure that the Cup was taken proper care of. Via Real Clear Sports:
“The winners to return the Cup in good order when required by the trustees in order that it may be handed over to any other team which may win it.”
Each player from the winning team is given one day with the Cup to themselves, and despite the conditions set forth by Lord Stanley, players have been notorious for using the cup for impractical, hilarious and, sometimes nefarious purposes.
There was Doug Weight, a center for the 2006 champion Carolina Panthers, who used his time with the Cup to create the largest ice cream sundae in St. Louis. In a rather disgusting turn of events in 2008, Kris Draper of the Detroit Red Wings decided it was a good idea to place his newborn baby in the Cup, and the baby did what newborns tend to do, she pooped.
Perhaps the best Stanley Cup story, however, dates back to 1987, when Mark Messier spent his day with the trophy at his favorite Edmonton strip club. Messier proceeded to place the Cup onstage, in which satisfied club patrons placed their tips for the evening.
Not all Stanley Cup stories are so odd, however, and a common practice is simply to sip one’s favorite draft beer from the Cup.
What other sport can provide such a long list of intriguing stories?
Sure, Major League Baseball’s Commissioner’s Trophy, the NBA’s Larry O’Brien Trophy and, of course the NFL’s Lombardi Trophy are immensely more popular. Regardless, Lord Stanley’s Cup without a doubt has the most memorable stories, and no other trophy comes close.
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