Happy Birthday, Stanley Cup
On Sat., the Stanley Cup celebrated 125 years as hockey’s most coveted prize.
According to NHL.com, the iconic trophy’s bowl “had a reported face value of 10 guineas, which translated to about $50 at the time…That’s the price Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley, Lord Stanley of Preston and son of the 14th Earl of Derby, paid for the original bowl-shaped trophy…”
All that was back in 1892. Since then, the Cup has evolved into its familiar shape and arguably become the best and most difficult to capture trophy in all of sports.
In the 1926-27 season, the Cup was exclusively given to the NHL champions after the folding of other leagues led to mergers and absorptions. The Ottawa Senators were the first team to win the prize after the trophy made its permanent home in the league.
From then on, the Stanley Cup traveled thousands of miles, visited many countries, and has been raised by every team who is tough enough to capture it for themselves after a grueling NHL season.
Many other trophies can be won in sports yet the Stanley Cup trumps them all. After all, it’s the only one you can drink or eat out of.
