Stanley Cup

What is the Stanley Cup?

It’s one question you seldom hear. Even people who don’t know ice from ice cream know about the NHL Stanley Cup. The NHL’s ultimate prize is right up there with the Super Bowl and World Series for the fame and respect it commands. Some even argue that this NHL cup is the hardest team sports trophy to win, thanks to the physicality and intensity of play, the grueling duration of best-of-seven matchups, and the large number of teams participating in the Stanley Cup Playoffs relative to the MLB, NFL and NBA. It’s a wonder that players have enough energy left to hoist Lord Stanley’s cup after they win it. But, of course, they do.

NHL Stanley Cup — History

What is the Stanley Cup history?

The legendary NHL cup predates the league — in fact, the Stanley Cup is the oldest trophy awarded to a professional sports team that is currently in use. First awarded in 1892, it was called the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup and given to the top amateur Canadian hockey club. In that era, league play was not as clear-cut and organized as today. From 1893 to 1914, the Stanley Cup was a challenge trophy, retained by the champion until successfully challenged by another club or lost their league title to another club. The trophy could change hands more than once a year depending on the number of challenges that were negotiated.

Beginning in the 1914-15 season, organized interleague play between the National Hockey Association and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association determined the winner of the Stanley Cup. Leagues were added or merged over the next 10 years until the NHL established pre-eminence. The last non-NHL team to win the Cup was the Victoria Cougars, in 1924-25. Since then, only NHL teams have competed for the Stanley Cup.

What is the Stanley Cup physically?

Unlike other sports championship trophies, a new Stanley Cup is not made for the winner each year. Instead, the Stanley Cup rotates from winning team to winning team, each winning player’s name being engraved on bands around the base of the trophy. The oldest band is removed when full and displayed in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The original Stanley Cup, purchased by Lord Stanley in England for about 50 cents (!), was awarded until 1970, when it was retired to the Hockey Hall of Fame due to brittleness. It was also known as the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup. The current Presentation Cup has been used since then, as well as a replica created in 1993 that is displayed in the Hockey Hall of Fame when the Presentation Cup is in the hands of the winning players.

Who was Lord Stanley?

Frederick Arthur Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, was born in London, England, and was the sixth Governor of Canada. While in Canada, from 1888 to 1893, his children took an interest in the new game of hockey; his sons played, and his daughter Isobel played in the first recorded game of women’s hockey. An original inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame, Lord Stanley passed away in 1908.

Stanley Cup — Trivia

• Lord Stanley never saw the trophy he created. By the time it was first awarded, in 1893, he had already returned to England.
• The first U.S. team to win Lord Stanley’s Cup: Seattle Metropolitans, in 1917.
• Players from the winning team are allowed one day each with the Cup, always accompanied by an official Hockey Hall of Fame chaperone. (This is done to ensure nothing disastrous happens to the Cup when it is away from its home in the Hockey Hall of Fame.) Teams have a total of 100 days to spend with the Cup, and there is also a midnight curfew to help prevent bad accidents or incidents.
• The tradition of team captains hoisting the Stanley Cup immediately after the winning game began in 1950 with Ted Lindsay and the Detroit Red Wings.
• Fifteen women have had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup (owners and team executives).
• Over 2,500 names engraved on the Stanley Cup so far.
• Removal bands were introduced to the Cup design in 1948, because the trophy had gotten too tall to handle.
• The Montreal Canadiens have the most Stanley Cup wins, with 24. A rather distant second with 13 wins are the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Detroit Red Wings have 11, Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks have 6 apiece, and Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers have 5 apiece.
• The player who has had his name engraved most often on the Cup: Henri Richard of the Canadiens, with 11 appearances. The coach with the most appearances: Scotty Bowman, with nine.
• There have been several engraving errors on the Cup. Most recently, in 2009-10, Chicago Blackhawk KRIS VERTSEEG was corrected to KRIS VERSTEEG.

All Stanley Cup Winners

• 2017-18 Washington Capitals
• 2016-17 Pittsburgh Penguins
• 2015-16 Pittsburgh Penguins
• 2014-15 Chicago Blackhawks
• 2013-14 Los Angeles Kings
• 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks
• 2011-12 Los Angeles Kings
• 2010-11 Boston Bruins
• 2009-10 Chicago Blackhawks
• 2008-09 Pittsburgh Penguins
• 2007-08 Detroit Red Wings
• 2006-07 Anaheim Ducks
• 2005-06 Carolina Hurricanes
• 2004-05 (No Cup awarded due to labor dispute)
• 2003-04 Tampa Bay Lightning
• 2002-03 New Jersey Devils
• 2001-02 Detroit Red Wings
• 2000-01 Colorado Avalanche
• 1999-2000 New Jersey Devils
• 1998-99 Dallas Stars
• 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings
• 1996-97 Detroit Red Wings
• 1995-96 Colorado Avalanche
• 1994-95 New Jersey Devils
• 1993-94 New York Rangers
• 1992-93 Montreal Canadiens
• 1991-92 Pittsburgh Penguins
• 1990-91 Pittsburgh Penguins
• 1989-90 Edmonton Oilers
• 1988-89 Calgary Flames
• 1987-88 Edmonton Oilers
• 1986-87 Edmonton Oilers
• 1985-86 Montreal Canadiens
• 1984-85 Edmonton Oilers
• 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers
• 1982-83 New York Islanders
• 1981-82 New York Islanders
• 1980-81 New York Islanders
• 1979-80 New York Islanders
• 1978-79 Montreal Canadiens
• 1977-78 Montreal Canadiens
• 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens
• 1975-76 Montreal Canadiens
• 1974-75 Philadelphia Flyers
• 1973-74 Philadelphia Flyers
• 1972-73 Montreal Canadiens
• 1971-72 Boston Bruins
• 1970-71 Montreal Canadiens
• 1969-70 Boston Bruins
• 1968-69 Montreal Canadiens
• 1967-68 Montreal Canadiens
• 1966-67 Toronto Maple Leafs
• 1965-66 Montreal Canadiens
• 1964-65 Montreal Canadiens
• 1963-64 Toronto Maple Leafs
• 1962-63 Toronto Maple Leafs
• 1961-62 Toronto Maple Leafs
• 1960-61 Chicago Blackhawks
• 1959-60 Montreal Canadiens
• 1958-59 Montreal Canadiens
• 1957-58 Montreal Canadiens
• 1956-57 Montreal Canadiens
• 1955-56 Montreal Canadiens
• 1954-55 Detroit Red Wings
• 1953-54 Detroit Red Wings
• 1952-53 Montreal Canadiens
• 1951-52 Detroit Red Wings
• 1950-51 Toronto Maple Leafs
• 1949-50 Detroit Red Wings
• 1948-49 Toronto Maple Leafs
• 1947-48 Toronto Maple Leafs
• 1946-47 Toronto Maple Leafs
• 1945-46 Montreal Canadiens
• 1944-45 Toronto Maple Leafs
• 1943-44 Montreal Canadiens
• 1942-43 Detroit Red Wings
• 1941-42 Toronto Maple Leafs
• 1940-41 Boston Bruins
• 1939-40 New York Rangers
• 1938-39 Boston Bruins
• 1937-38 Chicago Blackhawks
• 1936-37 Detroit Red Wings
• 1935-36 Detroit Red Wings
• 1934-35 Montreal Maroons
• 1933-34 Chicago Blackhawks
• 1932-33 New York Rangers
• 1931-32 Toronto Maple Leafs
• 1930-31 Montreal Canadiens
• 1929-30 Montreal Canadiens
• 1928-29 Boston Bruins
• 1927-28 New York Rangers
• 1926-27 Ottawa Senators
• 1925-26 Montreal Maroons
• 1924-25 Victoria Cougars
• 1923-24 Montreal Canadiens
• 1922-23 Ottawa Senators
• 1921-22 Toronto St. Pats
• 1920-21 Ottawa Senators
• 1919-20 Ottawa Senators
• 1918-19 (No Cup awarded due to Spanish flu pandemic)
• 1917-18 Toronto Arenas
• 1916-17 Seattle Metropolitians
• 1915-16 Montreal Canadiens
• 1914-15 Vancouver Millionaires
• 1913-14 Toronto Blueshirts
• 1912-13 Quebec Bulldogs
• 1911-12 Quebec Bulldogs
• 1910-11 Ottawa Senators
• 1909-10 Montreal Wanderers
• 1908-09 Ottawa Senators
• 1907-08 Montreal Wanderers
• 1906-07 Mar Montreal Wanderers
• 1906-07 Jan Kenora Thistles
• 1905-06 Mar Montreal Wanderers
• 1905-06 Feb Ottawa Senators
• 1904-05 Ottawa Senators
• 1903-04 Ottawa Senators
• 1902-03 Mar Ottawa Senators
• 1902-03 Feb Montreal AAA
• 1901-02 Mar Montreal AAA
• 1901-02 Jan Winnipeg Victorias
• 1900-01 Winnipeg Victorias
• 1899-1900 Montreal Shamrocks
• 1898-99 Montreal Shamrocks
• 1897-98 Montreal Victorias
• 1896-97 Montreal Victorias
• 1895-96 Feb Winnipeg Victorias
• 1895-96 Dec Montreal Victorias
• 1894-95 Montreal Victorias
• 1893-94 Montreal AAA
• 1892-93 Montreal AAA