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NHL Hockey - The Stanley Cup History
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Cup Notebook
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Early Years
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Champs and Finalists
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Leading Scorers by Year
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Cup-Winning Goals
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Playoff Formats
It all started on March 18, 1892, at a dinner of the Ottawa Amateur Athletic
Association. Lord Kilcoursie, a player on the Ottawa Rebels hockey club from
Government House, delivered the following message on behalf of Lord Stanley, the
Earl of Preston and Governor General of Canada:
"I have for some time been thinking that it would be a good thing if there were
a challenge cup which should be held from year to year by the champion hockey
team in the Dominion (of Canada)."
"There does not appear to be any such outward sign of a championship at present,
and considering the general interest which matches now elicit, and the
importance of having the game played fairly and under rules generally
recognized, I am willing to give a cup which shall be held from year to year by
the winning team."
Factoid: The Stanley Cup was originally known as the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup
Shortly thereafter, Lord Stanley purchased a silver cup measuring 7 ½ inches
high by 11 ½ inches across for the sum of 10 guineas (approximately $50);
appointed two Ottawa gentlemen, Sheriff John Sweetland and Philip D. Ross, as
trustees of that cup; and set the following preliminary conditions to govern the
annual competition:
The winners to return the Cup in good order when required by the trustees in
order that it may be handed over to any other team which may win it.
Each winning team to have the club name and year engraved on a silver ring
fitted on the Cup.
The Cup to remain a challenge competition and not the property of any one team,
even if won more than once.
The trustees to maintain absolute authority in all situations or disputes over
the winner of the Cup.
A substitute trustee to be named in the event that one of the existing trustees
drops out.
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 his trophy has
become one of the world's most prestigious sporting competitions.
View a
history of Stanley Cup champions.
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