The Championship Photo

Of all the great moments immortalized by a photographer's camera, the championship team photo on the ice may be the most special of all. Captured just moments after the championship has been won, the once impromptu photo has become the standard opening celebration to begin a championship reign.

By most accounts, the on-ice photo op was started by Wayne Gretzky and his Edmonton Oilers. The Great One called his teammates over for the center ice photo after winning the Stanley Cup in 1988 in what would prove to be the last photo of #99 in an Oilers jersey ever.

Every Stanley Cup winning team has done the same ever since. Also quickly following were Olympic, Worlds, World Juniors, Women's, NCAA and Canadian junior championship teams, not to mention probably every amateur team around the world.

But were Gretzky's Oilers really the first to do this? According to the following photo I came across, the answer appears to be no.

That is Vladislav Tretiak and the Soviet national team posing with the Challenge Cup in 1979. The Soviets defeated the NHL All Stars in a 2 game series in 1979. You can learn all about the Challenge Cup here.

I found the photo at NYMag.com.

Could we see a similar Russian photo on North American ice in 2010?