Hey STANLEY ... Can You Meet Me in St. Louis?
| The "original" Stanley Cup |
(it was originally called the
DOMINION HOCKEY CHALLENGE CUP)
Is there a better-looking championship trophy in any sport?
Everybody who wins gets their name on the Cup.
But, the trophy is a series of individual sterling silver rings
The rings featuring the names of the Toronto Maple Leafs' 1950's winners were removed three years ago and put on display in a special room at the Hockey Hall of Fame
-- along with the other rings/names from years before them.
The captain of that team was "Teeder" Kennedy.
A bronze statue of him was recently unveiled outside the ACC.
He was the first player in the NHL to earn 5 Stanley Cups.
After the 2015 season, his name no longer appears on the Cup.
I was with Ted at one of the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies in the '90s. Prior to the official part of the evening, there's a cocktail hour.
Guests just find a spot somewhere in the Hall have a few drinks and then the inductees
and their invited guests are moved to the main theatre.
As we stood beside one of the Hall exhibits, Ted told me that his Cup-winning Maple Leaf teammates wanted to give team owner, Conn Smythe a special gift. They decided on a miniature version of the Stanley Cup as the only suitable way to commemorate their win.
Ted contacted Ryrie Birk (later Birk's Jewelers) to duplicate the Cup in gold.
As he was talking, I looked behind him into the display case he was standing in front of. There was the actual Conn Smythe Cup miniature he had created for the owner -
on display in the case.
Talk about a special moment. That "Kennedy Cup" was a good idea. So good, now every player who wins the Cup gets a miniature Cup (not in gold) as their own keepsake.
When Frank Selke Sr. was the assistant general manager
his name was engraved on the trophy ...
F. Selke Ass Man.
Selke left the Leafs and went on to the Montreal Canadiens where he created the most successful farm system in the sport and assembled a team that won 5 consecutive Stanley Cups in the 1950s. No other team has accomplished that.
When Serge Savard was the Canadien's GM he had a special gold Stanley Cup ring made for the 1950's players to commemorate their historical accomplishment.
There are two identical Stanley Cups. One that tours for promotional purposes
(the staff calls him Lawrence) and the real one you see being presented to the team.
If you visit the Hockey Hall of Fame, you can have your picture taken with the cup.
If you are a fan, this should be at the top of your "bucket list".
During the Original Six era, following game 7,
| Ted Lindsay |
around the rink for the fans ... until Ted Lindsay.
He earned it 4 times and didn't like the fact that the trophy
sat on a folding table at centre ice and nobody touched it.
He took it off the table and skated it over to the boards so the fans could see it and take part in the player's celebration.
Then he skated it around the rink to the delight of the fans and every team/player has been doing it ever since.
His teammate, "Red" Kelly earned 4 Cups with Detroit
and when he was traded to the Leafs and changed positions from defence to centre, earned 4 more.
| "Red" Kelly |
"Red" put his newborn baby girl in the bowl of the Cup for a photo and she managed to drop "a big one" in the Cup while cameras were snapping.
I always think about that when I see players drinking champagne out of the Cup.
Leaf fans loved "Red" so much, they made him a Member of Parliament, twice (did his election have anything to do with him winning the Cup 4 times as a Leaf?) ... the first time he was elected he beat out Conservative candidate and criminal, Alan Eagleson.
In today's NHL, each player on the Stanley Cup winning team has a day with "their" trophy. Since the NHL is made up of a global population, every year the Cup finds its way to all corners of the planet.
A few years ago, the league recognized the fact that Original Six players never had the same day of celebration as today's players. They started a program to allow former Cup winners a day with the trophy.
When Lindsay turned 90 years old, it was his turn. He took it to his cottage community in Michigan. He charged $10. for a photo of him and the Cup with all his neighbours and friends and relatives. It was a big day. People lined up for hours. He earned lots of money. He gave it to his charity to support autism research.
No winning team had ever taken
... until Wayne Gretzky.
Following the 1984 win, he not only arranged the photo, he actually "directed" it the at centre ice. If you see a replay of the post game festivities you'll see 99 telling players where to sit and instructing the photographer how to set-up.
Today, every championship beer league team in North America doesn't leave the ice until they've had the team photo at centre ice with their hard-earned silverware or banner or flag.
Players' family members were never allowed on the ice
-- until Steve Yzerman's Red Wings.
Captain Yzerman not only had all their family members join them, but coach Scotty Bowman also strapped on his skates so he could easily glide around the ice and take part in everybody's home video
-- don't think any other coaches have ever done that since.
Henri "The Pocket Rocket" Richard
has the NHL record for Cup wins with 11.
Henri played like he was 6' 5"
- he was a monster that nobody could catch
and, like every other player, didn't wear a helmet.
He also had the added baggage of being
"Rocket" Richard's brother.
In professional sport, the only other player with 11 championship wins in any sport was Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics.
In the 1960s, the Leafs won 4 Stanley Cups
and I attended each
of the parade route celebrations
| Bay Street 1967 Toronto |
If you can find the photo on the walls
of the Scotiabank Centre (the old ACC)
I'm the kid hanging off the lamppost
in the lower right-hand corner of the photo.
PostScript
Last night, Stanley finally made it to St. Louis after 52 years.
There was a very nice post game moment between the Series MVP, St. Louis player, Ryan O'Reilly and hockey's best interviewer, Scott Oake.
Oake mentioned that O'Reilly came from a small
Ontario town of only 3,200 people. He told the audience that O'Reilly's parents were foster parents to 47 children. Oake asked about the impact such an upbringing might have on someone who just earned the Stanley Cup. O'Reilly said he "learned how to get along with people and was interested in knowing where they were from ... then transferred that to his NHL team".
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