By Paula Green

“It’s a great day for hockey!” This phrase was made famous by the late, great Bob Johnson. Johnson was the head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins when they won the Stanley Cup in 1991. The Pens went on to win the “Cup” the following year in 1992 with Scotty Bowman as their head coach.

The Stanley Cup or Lord Stanley’s Cup is the oldest sports trophy in North America and a national treasure in Canada. The history of this coveted award dates back to 1892. The governor general of Canada, Lord Stanley, proclaimed a challenge cup should be held from year-to-year by the champion hockey team in the Dominion.

There was no cup at that time, so Lord Stanley purchased a silver cup that was 7 ½ inches high by 11 ½ inches wide for approximately $50. Stanley then appointed two trustees of the cup, Philip D. Ross and Sheriff John Sweetland, both from Ottawa. He also sent forth conditions to administer the yearly competition.

The champions had to return the cup so that it may be handed over to any other team which may win it. Each winning team was to have the club name and year engraved on a silver ring fitted on the cup. The cup was never to be the property of a team but to remain a challenge competition. The trustees were to maintain absolute authority in all situations over the winner of the cup. If the existing trustees resigned their post, new ones would be named.

The first winner of the Stanley Cup was the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association (AAA) hockey club, champions of the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada for 1893. Ironically, Lord Stanley never witnessed a championship game nor attended a presentation of his trophy, having returned to his native England in the midst of the 1893 season. Nevertheless, the quest for this trophy has become one of the world’s most prestigious sporting competitions.

In 1912, play for the Cup was opened to professional teams. The winner was a pro team from Quebec named the Bulldogs. In 1917, the Cup went international. The Seattle Metropolitans won the trophy, becoming the first United States team to win the honor. In 1926, the NHL and its ten members became the only association to be eligible for the Stanley Cup. Today this remains true, but thirty teams now vie for this prestigious award.

Since we have shot through the history of Lord Stanley’s Cup, we must now see if you can ice some hockey questions, because it is time to get a little trivial...

1. Which team has won the most Stanley Cup championships?
2. What year was the Stanley Cup playoffs cancelled due to a flu epidemic?
3. Why was the Stanley Cup not awarded during the 2004-2005 season?
4. Name the trophy awarded to the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the Stanley Cup playoffs?
5. What player was awarded the MVP trophy for the Penguins when they won the Stanley Cups in 1991-1992?
6. Who has won the most number of MVP trophies in the Stanley Cup playoffs?
7. Which hockey player was nicknamed “The Great One?”
8. What was coach Bob Johnson’s nickname?
9. Who was often referred to as “Mr. Hockey?”
10. Who won a record nine Stanley Cups as head coach?
11. What hockey player became the first to win a Stanley Cup and Olympic Gold in the same year?
12. This team played in the 1968, 1969 and 1970 Stanley Cup finals. They lost every game going 0-4 all three years.
13. Where is the Hockey Hall of Fame located?
14. Who was last year’s Stanley Cup winner?
15. Who was the losing team in last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs?

Sources:

http://www.nhl.com/hockeyu/history/cup/cup.html, http://www.wikipedia.com, .http://ezinarticles.com/?The-History-of-the-Stanley-Cup&id=1936, http://www.funtrivia.com, The Stanley Cup by William McGuire

Answers:

1. Montreal Canadiens 2. 1919 3. NHL lockout (which cancelled the entire season) 4. Conn Smythe Trophy 5. Mario Lemieux 6. Patrick Roy 7. Wayne Gretzky 8. Badger Bob 9. Gordie Howe 10. Scotty Bowman 11. Ken Morrow (1980) 12. St. Louis, Blues 13. Toronto, Canada 14. Anaheim Ducks 15. Ottawa, Senators

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