I have drank from the cup... I win
It's not like they boil down the removed rings for soup cans or anything. Just because the band has been taken off the actual Cup and moved to the Hall of Fame, in my mind, doesn't mean those players are not on the Cup anymore. I look forward, in my dotage, to going to the HHoF and see all those bands of metal lined up along the walls, and know that they are the Cup, as much as whichever jokers haven't lived out their terms on the actual hardware yet. In my mind, all those Leafs teams who won it back in the Pleistocene Era are still on the Cup, and always will be, space and weight limitations be damned. Those bands are the Stanley Cup, as much as the flower pot on top. It wasn't always like that, but hey, that's how myths grow and flourish. There is nothing about the traditions surrounding the Stanley Cup that I do not like. For my money, it is the single best mythology in sports, and the reverence and populist attitude of the people who administer it could not, season to season, day to day, be handled any better than they do it. I love this shit.
I got the chance when the pens won in 1991 to touch, hold and actually drink from the cup. It was awesome. To sit and read the names of the greats that had held it before, IT GAVE ME CHILLS. IT IS THE GREATEST TROPHY IN SPORT
Debo - that is truly an enviable experience. What I wouldn't give to drink from that thing. Removing the rings strikes me as not a big deal - mostly because, really, what else can they possibly do? There isn't any other option. Though something in my stomach wishes that they could wait about 80 years so that all those guys are gone and don't have to see their names/teams removed. It does seem like an injustice. However, their immortality is assured, and they go to the Hall of Fame - not a bad little retirement gift (especially since for most of these guys - this is the only way to get there).
Though something in my stomach wishes that they could wait about 80 years so that all those guys are gone and don't have to see their names/teams removed. It does seem like an injustice. Come clean, Weedy. You're just worried the Leafs won't be represented anywhere on the cup.
awesome pic summersEve
Is there any kind of interactive app online which diagrams the Stanley Cup and lists exactly which teams are where? If not, there should be.
I wonder who did the actual flattening of the ring and how much they got paid. I have been in the metal working business a very long time, but I wouldn't want that job. I have ruined many a pieces of metal in my time, but I wouldn't be able to ever forgive myself if I messed up the Stanley Cup. I have no problem with the removing of the rings either. For decades that ring traveled the globe with the rest of it. It was there when Neal Broten almost dropped it on the ice in 95. If only that ring could talk... It may not be attached to the Cup any more, but it is still part of the Cup.
Is there any kind of interactive app online which diagrams the Stanley Cup and lists exactly which teams are where? the hockey hall of fame site has a virtual cup. i'm on a mac so i haven't been able to view it, but it sounds kind of cool.
Holy cow, goddam. The detail on that site is amazing. (It kept crashing firefox so I had to use explorer) You can rotate and zoom, and you can get so close you can see inside the top of the cup... "Wanders defeated Kenora 12 to 6 March 25th 1907." And it lists the players' names, (including Pud Glass and Dick Boon). Very neat link.
Sweet site
I've only had one chance to actually see the Cup in person, but I can still say that it is by far the most impressive trophy in American sports. Neither football, basketball, nor baseball enshrine the names of champions on one single trophy. Not to mention it looks more impressive than the other trophies (especially the World Series trophy). My favorite tradition would be that each player spends one day over the summer with the Stanley Cup. What I would give to be able to have the Cup for one day.
Come clean, Weedy. You're just worried the Leafs won't be represented anywhere on the cup. Well, in my own defence, I have previously stated that any victory prior to expansion might as well have been in a different league. I have a hard time reconginizing any victory thats 40 years old.
ahem, a good time to bring this back up... 10 reasons why the Stanley Cup kicks the ass of every other trophy, ever. I like Bathgate's idea of a mega cup in the hhof that just keeps getting bigger and bigger. well, i like amusing myself with what it would look like in 50 years. but actually doing that would be wrong. the cup has to look like the cup. and they have settled on a great form. so, periodically losing the rings has to be the best solution.
Good stuff gspm. I took the above picture in the tiny, little town of Williamstown, PA, the hometown of Tampa GM Jay Feaster. You hear the stories of the partying, but his day was just like a dream. Feaster had the Cup on the same day the local Pennsylvania Army National Guard 131st Transportation Company was being honored as they recently had returned from Iraq. Feaster stood with the cup and posed with each and every soldier that wanted a picture. It was just such an amazing thing to watch. He made sure the soldiers were the focus of the day, but it was so fun to see how happy those soldiers were as they and their families posed with the Cup. To see what it does for a small town... One of the many things that's so damn cool about the Cup.
I loved the virtual cup and gspm's old column. Thanks for both of those links.
