About the Stanley Cup and how to get your name on the cup
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How To Get Your Name On The Stanley Cup

From the standpoint of a fan, the Stanley Cup is without a doubt one of the biggest sports league cups in the world. It bears more significance than most league championship titles and is the single most significant cup in NHL history. So, one can only speculate as to how it must feel to have one’s name on the Stanley Cup.

In contrast to other sporting awards, the Stanley Cup permanently inscribes the names of its victors. And for many years, this has been the custom.

It does, however, raise the query, “How Do I Get My Name on The Stanley Cup?”.

To have your name on the Stanley Cup, you don’t have to be a hockey player. All of that is covered in this post as we examine the history, information, guidelines, and strategies for getting your name with hockey greats.

A Cleats Hub Analysis

History of the Stanley Cup 

About the Stanley Cup

The Stanley Cup’s history began in 1888, when Lord Stanley of Priston was appointed Governor General of Canada during the reign of Queen Victoria. This happened when Canada was still under the British Empire.

During Montreal’s winter carnival in 1889, Lord Stanley saw the game of ice hockey for the first time. The deft and strategic movements of the Montreal Victorias and Montreal Hockey Team astounded him. Later on, his two sons founded the Ottawa Rideau Hall Rebels after he and his family became immediately interested in the sport.

One of his sons later played a significant role in the Ontario Hockey Association’s establishment.

Who Invented The Stanley Cup?

Over time, Lord Stanley’s children, Arthur and Algernon, persuaded him to make a trophy that would serve as “an outward and obvious evidence of the hockey title”. Subsequently, Lord Stanley would purchase a silver Rose Bowl and engrave it with “From Stanley of Priston” on one end and “Dominion Hockey Championship Cup” on the other.

The best amateur hockey teams in Canada were given the cup, and Lord Stanley would go on to establish some rules. One of the rules stated that the cup would be a challenge cup and not belong to one team indefinitely.

The engraving of names onto the cup came from a regulation that allowed teams to have their name and year of winning the trophy etched onto the cup.

How The Stanley Cup Got Its Name 

The Dominion Hockey League Cup is known as such; however, the term “Stanley Cup” was used by the Ottawa Journal in a publication in 1893. The Stanley Cup has existed ever since. Lord Stanley’s Cup, The Cup, The Holy Grail, and even Lord Stanley Mug are some of the more modern names for the cup.

Evolution of the Stanley Cup 

Throughout the past ten years, the cup has changed. The cup is now awarded to the NHL season champion following a match between the competing NHL teams. During the challenge era, things were very different.

The cup resembled a boxing championship from 1983 to 1914, as respective teams demanded opportunities to compete against the winners for the trophy. There were various leagues back then, so if you won your league tournament while a team from your league was hosting it, you could also win the trophy.

Due to this approach, the cup was won by several clubs in a single year. One instance is the 1910 Stanley Cup victory shared by the Montréal Wanderers and Ottawa Senators.

How many Stanley Cups Are There? 

The types of stanley cups.

There are three Stanley Cups. They are:

  • The Dominion Hockey League Cup
    The Dominion Cup is the original and first Stanley Cup, presented by Lord Stanley in 1892.
  • Presentation Cup
    The renowned trophy awarded to the NHL season’s champion is known as the Presentation Cup. It is a replacement for the original cup, which Clarence Campbell, the NHL’s president, thought had grown brittle and thin.
  • Hall of Fame Cup
    The presenting cup is a duplicate of the Hall of Fame Cup. While the presentation cup is unavailable, the 1983-made cup is on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame. The Presentation Cup’s lack of a Hall of Fame seal on the bottom is a significant distinction between it and the Hall of Fame Cup.

Moreover, several names on the original cup have “X” marks over them. These errors were then fixed during engraving done on the replica.

Rules of The Stanley Cup 

Several laws and regulations control how the prize is awarded. Lord Stanley established these rules, which were later expanded upon by the Cup trustees. Find out more about the Stanley Cup’s rules and regulations.

When it comes to the maximum number of names allowed by a franchise to put on the Cup, the NHL set a limit of 52. The regulation began in 1998 after the Detroit Red Wings submitted a total of 55 names to go on the cup.

Although the NHL considers it excessive, they permitted it and established restrictions for players and non-players who can participate in the cup afterward.

How Do You Qualify To Get Your Name on The Stanley Cup? 

The requirement to be on the Stanley Cup of three types: Stakers, Goaltenders, and Non-players.

NHL Skaters Requirement

When I talk about skaters, I am talking about defensemen, centers, wingers, and backup players. 

  • Skaters must play actively for half of the NHL season. This means the skater must play at least 41 games on the ice since the beginning of that NHL season. 
  • Or, the player must play at least one game in the Cup finals
  • The player must be on his team’s roster when the team wins the Cup

NHL Goaltender Requirement 

  • Goaltenders must play actively for half of the NHL season. The rule also applies to the backup goaltender who must dress for his role for half of the season (41 games). 
  • The Goaltender must play at least one game in the Cup finals. In the case of a backup goaltender, he must dress for at least one game in the Stanley Cup finals.
  • The Goaltender and backup must be on the team’s roster when the team wins the Cup

NHL Non-player Requirement

Non-players must participate actively in the team in order to have their names etched. Roles such as club owner, coach, manager, director, trainer, scouts, massage therapists, and others are permitted on the cup.

Therefore, this means that even though you are not a player, all you need to do is to own an NHL team, be a member of the executives (coaches, managers), or a personnel that is actively involved with the players (trainers, dieticians, etc).

Exceptions 

There is an exemption for persons whose names are not eligible to be engraved on the Stanley Cup. The only exception is if the team petitions the NHL president to have particular players who did not meet the threshold reconsidered.

The cause for the petition, however, must be real, as the player in question must have fallen short of the criterion owing to “extenuating circumstances”. Exceptions have happened in the past, most recently with the Philadelphia Penguins.

Pascal Dupuis, a prominent player for the Penguins in 2016, was forced to retire due to health difficulties after playing 18 games that season. Coincidentally, the Penguins went on to win the Stanley Cup that year. Even though he fell short of the requirement, a petition to the NHL was made and it was successful, and his name appeared on the trophy.

Facts on The Stanley Cup

Here are some quick facts about the Stanley Cup you might not have known. 

How Many Rings Are There on The Stanley Cup?

The Stanley Cup has 5 barrel rings. Each barrel can contain as many as 13 teams, in other words, each ring can hold the cup winners for 13 years. 

What Happens When The Rings Are Full of Names?

Each of the Stanley Cup’s rings can be moved. The topmost ring (first ring) is removed after the base ring (fifth ring) is full. The previous base ring becomes the fourth ring, and a new ring is added as the fifth ring.

Any rings removed from the Cup are kept in the Hockey Hall of Fame, where they will be remembered for centuries to come.

Perks of Winning The Stanley Cup

Perks of winning the Stanley cup

Winning any award has its perks, and the Stanley Cup is no exception. Some of the perks teams who win the Cup have include:

  1. Engraving of Name on The Stanley Cup
    NHL players have their names immortalized in history as their names on the cup stay for generations.
  2. Customized Stanley Cup Rings
    The victorious team will receive personalized Stanley Cup rings for each player and certain other team members. Due to the fact that each team is in charge of creating their own ring once they win, no two teams ever receive the same ring. The ring is a priceless object of exceptional beauty that frequently commands a high price.
  3. Personal Time With The Cup
    The ability to have the legendary Stanley Cup all to yourself is the peak of the perk that comes with the award. The winning team gets to keep the cup throughout the summer until they return it at the start of the next season. During this season, the players and some non-playing staff, like the coach, have unrestricted access to the cup to take it wherever they want. It has also been a tradition for players to do the craziest things with the cup, such as eating and drinking from it. 

What is on the Bowl of The Stanley Cup?

Two teams and their players are listed inside the Stanley Cup’s bowl, along with the names of one player whose team is unknown.

The Montreal Wanderers are the first team to be inscribed, along with twenty members of the team. The second team, which consisted of nine players, was the Vancouver Millionaires from the 1914–1915 season.

Finally, a player by the name of H. Broadbent is listed as the last name on the interior of the bowl. Without mentioning his winning team or the year he won the cup, his name appears at the back of the bowl.

Who Has The Most Engraving On The Stanley Cup?

Jean Beliveau has the most name engravings on the Stanley Cup. The former player for the Montreal Canadiens had his name engraved 10 times during his playing career.

After his NHL career, he became a part of the management team for the Canadiens and had his name engraved an additional seven times. This amounts to a total of seventeen (17) times when his name was engraved on the Stanley Cup.

Conclusion 

Be aware that, although they are partners with the Cup trustees, the NHL does not actually own the Stanley Cup. The Stanley Cup and all of its rules fall within the purview of the Cup trustees.

Now that you know the background information and procedure, you can obtain your name on the cup. Our adventure on the Cup comes to an end at this point. A wonderful voyage filled with lots of knowledge has taken place. For reading, I’m grateful.

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