5 Reasons Why the Stanley Cup Is the Best Trophy in Professional Sports

[Parker 1st MRB]

This is from an article I was reading that I found to be quite interesting.

1. You Get Your Name on It - It sounds simple enough. But seriously, you get your name on it. Every player to have won the cup in the history of the NHL, plus many from years prior to the NHL's existence, has their name engraved on the piece of hardware they won. Victorious players can look back through the list of names who have held the cup before them and feel a part of a rich history. They see the names of players they idolized growing up as they themselves hoist the same trophy above their heads. Fans can search the rings for their team and remember the year they brought the championship home. It creates a connection and remembrance that you don't get anywhere else.

2. It's the Oldest - The original Stanley Cup was donated in 1892 by Lord Stanley (the Governor General of Canada) to be presented to the winner of the Dominion Cup. The NHL didn't even play its first season until 1917. By then, the Stanley Cup had been associated with championship hockey for a quarter of a century. Lord Stanley's bowl was 75 years old by the time the Commissioner's Trophy (MLB) and the Lombardi Trophy (NFL) were first awarded. Stanley purchased the cup for a little over $1,000 in today's currency.

3. You Get to Take It Home with You - One of the great traditions of the NHL is that everyone who has his name on the cup gets to take the cup home with him for a day. What happens from there is where the stories come from. It has found many uses while in the care of the NHL's players, coaches and managers. The cup has been used as everything from a flower pot to a baptismal. It has been a cooler, a champagne bowl, a urinal and a lawn ornament. The cup has also traveled the world, including a trip into a live combat zone in Afghanistan in 2007. It apparently came under rocket-propelled grenade fire, but escaped with no injuries.

4. It Has Been Used and Abused - In 1905, it was drop-kicked into the Rideau Canal in Ottawa. In 1924, members of the champion Montreal Canadiens left the cup in a snowbank on the side of the road after taking it out of the trunk to change a flat tire. It has been to the bottom of multiple swimming pools, including Patrick Roy's after the Canadiens again won the cup in 1993. This incident prompted a genius level observation from captain Guy Carbonneau. "The Stanley Cup does not float," he astutely observed. It has been stolen on multiple occasions, mysteriously finding its way home again each time. You don't get these types of stories with trophies that are remade every year by Tiffany & Co. and put in glass display cases for the rest of their lives.

5. The Players Get It First - The NHL does things a little differently. The Stanley Cup passes straight from the NHL's commissioner to the captain of the victorious team. This move outclasses all of the other major sports leagues that do not follow this practice. It also makes possible those epic moments where the captain gets to hand it off to another deserving player, such as the moment between Joe Sakic and Ray Bourque after the Colorado Avalanche won the cup in 2001. Bourque had requested a trade from his beloved Bruins just to have a shot to cap his storied career with a Stanley Cup ring. Sakic passed on his right as captain to hoist the cup, instead passing the hardware straight to Bourque:

This photo will go down in sports history. How many photos of NFL owners accepting trophies share the same emotion and fame?

[Grant 1st MRB]

Wow those stories are crazy! I mean taking it to Afghanistan???? Are they insane? Oh yeah Hockey players...... nevermind

[Englebretson 1st MRB]

I bet someone has put a dress on it and taken it out on a date.

[Maines]

5 Bucks says someone got drunk after the Finals and pissed/shat in it

[Elder]

5 Bucks says someone got drunk after the Finals and pissed/shat in it

"Urinal Ornament" 5 bucks says your right.

[Ford 1st MRB]

The Claret Jug is actually older. It also has all previous winners names engraved on it, and you get to take it home.

Not to take away from the Stanley Cup, just saying.

[Legend]

Nope

[Maines]

Never heard of the Clarent Jug, unless its a joke and im totally missing it

[Parker 1st MRB]

Never heard of the Clarent Jug, unless its a joke and im totally missing it

The Clarent Jug is a golf trophy given to the British Open champion, however, golf is not a team sport therefore it does not fall into the same category as the MLB, NHL, NFL, NBA and MLS. Golf is a great game nonetheless and in no way am I gonna start comparing golf to other sports.

[Ford 1st MRB]

I agree that the Stanley Cup is the best of the team sports trophies, I am after all a hockey fan. I'm just saying the thing you quoted said oldest in professional sports, and despite the outlook on golf some people may have, it is classified as a professional sport.

I remember watching in 91 when Lemieux, Jagr, Francis, etc were skating around with the Cup. It was then and still is today and incredible experience seeing your favorite team celebrating with the Cup. I am taking nothing away from the Stanley Cup, I was just sort of pointing out a few similarities in the Claret Jug and the Stanley Cup. Both of which by the way are originally British, odd isn't it?

Anywho, yeah... good times!