ParadesDid you know that the first Stanley Cup victory parade was in 1896. The city of Winnipeg held a parade for the champion Victorias. The next Stanley Cup parade wasn't until 1921 and 1923 when the Ottawa Senators won the Cup. However Stanley Cup parades did not become common practice until the 1960s when the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens practically owned the championship Cup.
Champagne
Drinking champagne from Lord Stanley's Mug is one of the longest standing traditions. The Winnipeg Victorias also began this trend, with their title in 1896. Every team since has followed suit.
On-Ice Photo
It may be hard to believe, but teams did not begin the center ice photo with the Cup until Wayne Gretzky led the impromptu photo op in 1988.
On-Ice Cup PresentationPerhaps one reason the on ice photo is the sporadic practice of presenting the Stanley Cup on the ice and before the fans in attendance. It may seem like tradition today, but it wasn't until the 1950s that the NHL presented Cup on the ice.
Victory Lap around the ice
One reason why presenting the Cup on ice became practice is because of Ted Lindsay's impromptu on ice celebration in 1950. Lindsay skated around the rink so all fans could share in the victory, to great applause. The victory lap has been Cup tradition ever since.
Stanley Cup RingsEvery player receives an extravagant ring to commemorate their Stanley Cup championship, but it is up to the winning team to pay and create the ring. The practice began with the first Stanley Cup champions - the 1893 Montreal AAA. But it did not become a tradition until Toronto and Montreal dominated the game in the 1940s and 1950s. The same can be said about the tradition of giving out mini replicas of the Stanley Cup
A Day With The CupIt may be hard to believe, but the practice of players being allowed a full day with the Stanley Cup did not start until 1993. Prior to that, the Stanley Cup would make appearances at team sanctioned events or parties only.
4 comments:
I'm sure the stories of players taking the Cup with them to different places are endless...my only experience was just the other day when at the Chicago Cubs game in Wrigley Field, Chris Chelios brought the Cup out to the Field. He threw out the first pitch for the game, with the Cup sitting next to the Pitching Mound---it was quite a scene. Naturally many Chicago fans booed, because Cheli is a Red Wing, though he is a Chicago guy at heart...but the thought of the Wings and Hawks playing the Winter Classic Outdoor Game on New Years Day here at Wrigley Field, with the Cup on the Field was simply priceless. Chelios later went on to sing the traditional 7th Inning stretch song, Take me out To The Ball Game, with the Cup clearly on display in front of him and 40,000 fans all turned to him and the Cup as they sang the song.
Harry Mummery played left wing on the Toronto Arenas 1917-18. etc I have a question..There is a gold oval ring with crossed hockey diamond bladed sticks and a diamond puck in the middle. Father said the ring was originally a pair of cuff links presented to his dad Harry Mummery. Can anyone tell me anything about these cuff links or the ring. When and why presented etc.
Ted, you have a lot of proud fans all over the world, but none better then the ones in Hockeytown.
I don't know when it started, but another Cup Tradition is after the team captain hoists the Cup, there is special significance to the first person he hands it off to, whether they be a long-time veteran who never hoisted the Cup before, or had some importance to the captain or team. Here are a few examples...
1987 Edmonton Oilers--Wayne Gretzky to Steve Smith (who scored the notorious "own goal" in the previous year's Smythe Division Finals agains Calgary)
1993 Montreal Canadiens--Guy Carbonneau to Denis Savard (Savard had to been traded to Montreal from Chicago three years earlier, and he was injured during the Cup Finals. Carbonneau immediately handed the Cup to him upon receiving it)
1997 Detroit Red Wings--Steve Yzerman to Mike Ilitch (the man who bought the Red Wings from the Norris family fifteen years earlier) and then to Viacheslav Fetisov and Igor Larionov (two of the first Russians to play in the NHL by permission of the Soviet Union as opposed to defection)
1998 Detroit Red Wings--Steve Yzerman to Vladimir Konstantinov (the Wings' defenceman who suffered a career ending injury just days after winning the Stanley Cup the previous year)
2001 Colorado Avalanche--Joe Sakic to Raymond Bourque (Sakic immediately handed the Cup to Bourque upon receiving it)
2002 Detroit Red Wings--Steve Yzerman to Scotty Bowman (Yzerman immediately handed the Cup to Bowman as it was his last game as coach)
2004 Tampa Bay Lightning--Dave Andreychuk to Tim Taylor (while Taylor had won the Cup before in 1997, he had been in the NHL longer than any other member of the team)
2006 Carolina Hurricanes--Rod Brind'amour to Glen Wesley (a key member of the Hurricanes franchise since their days in Hartford)
2007 Anaheim Ducks--Scott Niedermeyer to Rob Niedermeyer (Rob was Scott's younger brother, and had played for the Ducks in the 2003 Stanley Cup Final) to Chris Pronger (Pronger played for Edmonton in the previous year's Finals) to Teemu Selanne (a popular member of the Ducks franchise who had returned to the team two years earlier after four years away from the team)
2008 Detroit Red Wings--Nicklas Lidstrom to Dallas Drake (Drake had played for 16 seasons before finally winning Lord Stanley)
2010 Chicago Blackhawks--Jonathan Toews to Marian Hossa (Hossa had played in the previous two Stanley Cup Finals before finally winning)
2011 Boston Bruins--Zdeno Chara to Mark Recchi (the 22-year veteran who had previously won Cups with Pittsburgh and Carolina)
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