Puck Daddy has a piece up on whether or not we should rename the NHL trophies.
Every now and then comes a headline grabbing suggestion to mess with history and rename the trophies after Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr, Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux.
After all, no one knows who Dr. David Hart was. I'm not even sure they knew who he was in 1924 when he donated the trophy.
Or who was Frank Calder? Or James Norris? Or Marie Evelyn Moreton? She was Lady Byng, by the way.
Here's my response to that. If we renamed these trophies, why shouldn't we rename the Stanley Cup? Like Hart and Byng, he did not directly do a lot for hockey other than donate a trophy. He then buggered off back to England and never saw his own trophy awarded.
So let's honour the Stanley Cup after someone who did something important for hockey. Like Lester Patrick. Oh wait, he's too old. How about Scotty Bowman? Or Colin Campbell. Let's let the marketing guys suggest Paul Coffey. The Coffey Cup would have all sorts of merchandising tie ins that would make tons of money.
Renaming the Stanley Cup would be a silly idea. Why would it be any different with any of the other trophies?
3 comments:
Maybe the solution is simpler. Learn the history of the game and find the appreciation for the pioneers who built the game into what it is. Howe, Gretzky, Lemieux etc aren't founding fathers. I know who every one of those trophies are named after, cause I give a damn. For anyone who wants to learn, it isn't hard to look it up. Lord Stanley didn't have squat to do with hockey when he chose to donate the bowl everyone persues annually. Maybe we should rename that one after it's most frequent victor. Yeah, let's call it the Montreal Canadiens Cup!
Joe, honestly, I don't know where this one comes from.
Something tells me that if Gary Bettman had his way, these trophies would indeed have sexier, more contemporary names, so as to attract more casual fans.
Men such as Art Ross and Conn Smythe were important figures in the game's history. Men such as PM Lester Pearson and Lord Stanley of Preston were honored for good reason.
I say: respect tradition!
sigh...not this crap again?
Add new trophies, sure, (offensive and defensive defenseman, for example) but don't rename them.
It's a good way to get people worked up, though, and that drives page views.
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