Lord Stanley

by Anthony Strait, OTSL Panelist

            It is said that it is the most coveted prize in all of the four major sports. It weighs in at 34.5 pounds and stand at 35 inches tall. The bands are engraved with the names of those who were fortunate to survive the gauntlet and lift the spoils of victory above their heads. We are two weeks into the journey for one team of “destiny” to add its story to the countless others that make up those silver bands. It is the holy grail...it is the Stanley Cup.

            No other trophy in sports carries more traditions and stories than Lord Stanley. Originally awarded in 1893, it was commissioned one year prior and named after Sir Fredricks Arthur Stanley, Lord Stanley of Preston who was then Governor General of Canada. Originally known as the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, the first nineteen winners were determined by challenge games and league play. The Montreal Amateur Athletic Association was the first team to ever win the cup, a bowl in its original form. Since 1910 - when the National Hockey Association took possession - the cup has been the symbol of hockey supremacy. Since 1926 only teams in the National Hockey League have competed for the ultimate prize.

            The road to the cup is often referred to as the toughest road in all of the sports. For two months 16 teams will compete to see who can survive. The playoffs is in itself a wild ride worthy of the satisfaction that waits at the end. So many variables can shape as well as determine if a team has destiny on its side. Upsets happen regularly in the playoffs and the team with home-ice isn’t guaranteed victory. The 2016-17 Chicago Blackhawks became victims of this notion by capturing the best record in hockey. Then they ran into a Nashville team that got hot and the Blackhawks were swept in embarrassing fashion. Things can change on a bad hop like it did to Mike Richter in the 1992 playoffs that turned the tide of a series. Plenty of heroics echo through time, and speaking of time, you play on until a team can score the tie-breaking goal. The point of sudden death is as synonymous as the euphoria of surviving to take the next step. Though it all it ends with a healthy handshake.

            To reach the end of the journey is to enrich you in the many traditions that are engraved in silver. The many faces that have sipped the spoils of success from the top bowl. To be a winner in the end is to be the toast of the town for a day whether it’s a big city or a small community. The childhood dream of spending a day with the trophy has grown as big as the expectations of a fan base chanting “WE WANT THE CUP”. It's enough to send chills down your spine. The cup is the symbol for "team" and one that brings a team together like it did for the 1997-98 Red Wings. A team that made the journey and made sure everyone knew Vladimir Konstantinov was the biggest member. It can feel light as a feather like it did when Ray Bourque waited 22 years to lift it high above his head like it was touching the heavens. Of course you don’t touch the cup until you win it or it’s the only one you touch but don’t tell Stephane Matteau or Sidney Crosby who broke that rule and suddenly their teams won the prize.

            The cup is so perfect yet it is imperfect to its core. Misspellings during engraving and even “X”-ed out names add to its legend and charm. Unlike the other trophies, the cup has its own identity that can never be duplicated in part because the cup itself is never duplicated. The 1980-81 Islanders is spelled “ILANDERS” while the 1983-84 Oilers has a named covered by a series of 16 Xs. The irony is that it takes 16 wins from April to June to have your name engraved in its barrel ring and you hope it’s spelled correctly. 2,528 names are engraved in the rings in total. The older ring is removed and placed in the Hall of Fame to join the original bowl and locked away in a vault. A handful of women have had the honor of having their names engraved. The keeper of the cup is as popular as the men who win it, and as a player you forget to shave for a while but the reflection off it looks like a million bucks.

            To sacrifice for the cause is to be unselfish. To survive and advance is to be one step ever so closer yet still so far. The delight of the final seconds ticking off is only matched with the captain skating over to claim the ultimate prize. The team photo is as etched in time as the names that will join countless others on that very cup. You keep it for a full year, only to try to do it all again the next year. To drink from it is to savior the moment, and to hold it is to hug something you love so much that you never want the moment to end. This cup has history and a name…its name is Stanley and every kid dreams of meeting him one day.