04/25/24
January 10, 2007
Out With the Old ...: Eventually, everyone's time on the Stanley Cup runs out. Before the start of this NHL season, thirteen past champions from the "Original Six" era had their names removed and archived in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
hey that cup can only hold so much least the 61 blackhawks weren't erased but there day is coming
posted by luther70 at 09:23 PM on January 10, 2007
Huh. I always thought they just added another ring and made it taller.
posted by tieguy at 10:02 PM on January 10, 2007
Damn. I had the same impression as tieguy. I mean, it sort of makes sense, considering a Tower of Babylonian proportions trophy the size of Eric Lindros would be damn tough to get around, but it does make me a bit sad to see those names from oh so long ago taken off.
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:44 PM on January 10, 2007
From the article: And he also relates something former New York Islanders great Bryan Trottier told him. "He said at three-feet high and 35 pounds it's the perfect size to hold over your head and hoist it," recalls Pritchard. "It's pretty hard to argue with a guy that's won the Stanley Cup six times. Obviously that's not the reason why it was done, but that kind of sums it up greatly in one sentence." I would rather see the Cup at a certain height and weight, than keep adding to it. The vision of players raising It above their heads in victory is what I'll always see in my head. They're not getting rid of the rings, just "retiring" the ring to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
posted by wingnut4life at 12:43 AM on January 11, 2007
The Stanley Cup is coolest trophy (that I know of) in all of sports. It is unfortunate that they have to take rings off, but imagine the size of the thing if they didn't.
posted by apoch at 02:19 AM on January 11, 2007
'74 and '75 Flyers are still on there. If they didnt remove some how tall would that bad boy be?
posted by GoBirds at 04:02 AM on January 11, 2007
Here's a picture I took of the cup the summer after the Lightning won. You can see the last blank spot on the bottom ring. That would eventually be the Lightning's spot. Interesting they put "season not played" in place of the '04-'05 season. Also neat that they flatten the ring. I just assumed they put it in the Hall as a circle. 
posted by SummersEve at 05:47 AM on January 11, 2007
Heck of a pic, SE, by far the best look at the Cup I've ever had.
posted by mjkredliner at 07:30 AM on January 11, 2007
I have drank from the cup... I win
posted by Debo270 at 08:02 AM on January 11, 2007
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.
posted by chicobangs at 09:37 AM on January 11, 2007
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
posted by Debo270 at 09:53 AM on January 11, 2007
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).
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 09:59 AM on January 11, 2007
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.
posted by SummersEve at 10:05 AM on January 11, 2007
awesome pic summersEve
posted by Debo270 at 10:15 AM on January 11, 2007
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.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 10:23 AM on January 11, 2007
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.
posted by MrFrisby at 10:34 AM on January 11, 2007
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.
posted by goddam at 11:14 AM on January 11, 2007
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.
posted by SummersEve at 12:08 PM on January 11, 2007
Sweet site
posted by Debo270 at 01:54 PM on January 11, 2007
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.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 02:12 PM on January 11, 2007
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.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 02:26 PM on January 11, 2007
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.
posted by gspm at 02:56 PM on January 11, 2007
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.
posted by SummersEve at 03:45 PM on January 11, 2007
I loved the virtual cup and gspm's old column. Thanks for both of those links.
posted by Amateur at 06:38 PM on January 11, 2007
Nice stuff gspm.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 05:11 PM on January 12, 2007
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