The Stanley Cup - Toronto-Canada
Posted by: 
Norfolk12
N 43° 38.815 W 079° 22.630
17T E 630878 N 4833937
Every hockey Teams Dream the Stanley Cup.
Waymark Code: WM3Y3N
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 06/03/2008
Views: 58
History of the Stanley Cup:
The Stanley Cup (French: La Coupe Stanley) is an ice hockey club championship trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs champion. It is commonly referred to as The Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously (chiefly by sportswriters) as Lord Stanley's Mug.
The Stanley Cup is surrounded by numerous legends and traditions, the oldest of which is the celebratory drinking of champagne out of the cup by the winning team.
Unlike the trophies awarded by the other three major professional sports leagues of North America, a new Stanley Cup is not made each year; Cup winners keep it until a new champion is crowned. It is the only trophy in professional sports that has the name of the winning players, coaches, management, and club staff engraved on it. The original bowl was made of silver and has a dimension of 18.5 centimeters (7.28 inches) in height and 29 centimeters (11.42 inches) in diameter. The current Stanley Cup is made of silver and nickel alloy. Today, it has a height of 89.54 centimeters (35.25 inches) and weighs 15.5 kilograms (34.5 lb]
The Stanley Cup is the oldest professional sports trophy in North America.] Originally inscribed the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, the trophy was donated by former Governor General of Canada Lord Stanley of Preston in 1892 as an award for Canada's top-ranking amateur ice hockey club. In 1915, the two professional ice hockey organizations, the National Hockey Association (NHA) and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), reached a gentlemen's agreement in which their respective champions would face each other for the Stanley Cup. After a series of league mergers and folds, it became the de facto championship trophy of the NHL in 1926. The Cup later became the de jure NHL championship prize in 1947.
Origins
Frederick Walter Stanley, Lord Stanley of PrestonAfter Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby and Lord Stanley of Victoria, was appointed by Queen Victoria as Governor General of Canada on June 11, 1888, he and his family became highly enthusiastic about ice hockey .
Stanley was first exposed to the game at Montreal's 1889 Winter Carnival, where he saw the Montreal Victorias play the Montreal Hockey Club. The Montreal Gazette reported that he "expressed his great delight with the game of hockey and the expertise of the players". During that time, organized ice hockey in Canada was still in its infancy and only Montreal and Ottawa had anything resembling leagues.
Lord Walter Stanley's entire family became active in ice hockey. Two of his sons, Arthur and Algernon, formed a new team called the Ottawa Rideau Rebels. Arthur also played a key role in the formation of what later became known as the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA).] Arthur and Algernon persuaded their father to donate a trophy to be "an outward and visible sign of the hockey championship". Lord Stanley sent the following message to the victory celebration held on March 18, 1892 for the three-time champion Ottawa Hockey Club:
There does not appear to be any such outward sign of a championship at present, and considering the general interest which matches now elicit, and the importance of having the game played fairly and under rules generally recognized, I am willing to give a cup which shall be held from year to year by the winning team.
Soon afterwards, Lord Stanley purchased a decorative bowl, forged in Sheffield, England by London silversmith G.R. Collis and Company (now Boodles and Dunthorne Jewelers), for ten guineas (ten and a half pounds sterling, or $48.67 USD at that time). He had the words "Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup" engraved on one side of the outside rim, and "From Stanley of Preston" on the other side.
Originally, Lord Stanley intended that the Cup should be awarded to the top amateur hockey team in Canada, to be decided by the acceptance of a challenge from another team. He made five preliminary regulations:
The winners shall return the Cup in good order when required by the trustees so that it may be handed over to any other team which may win it.
Each winning team, at its own expense, may have the club name and year engraved on a silver ring fitted on the Cup.
The Cup shall remain a challenge cup, and should not become the property of one team, even if won more than once.
The trustees shall maintain absolute authority in all situations or disputes over the winner of the Cup.
If one of the existing trustees resigns or drops out, the remaining trustee shall nominate a substitute.
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