Reason I Love Hockey #10

The Stanley Cup

Considering the Cup just spent 24 hours in WNY a couple of days ago, and yesterday it quailed under the steely death glare of Ryan Miller, this seemed like an appropriate time to bust this reason out.

The Stanley Cup is called "the greatest prize in sports" for good reason. Not only does it take superior achievement to win (more on that later), but it also wraps up all the history and tradition of almost a century of hockey in one 35 pound chunk of metal. Hockey's champions and legends have their names engraved and immortalized on it for all eternity where the stars of today can see them and begin to dream. You just know that when Miller looked at the Cup yesterday (from a safe distance, of course), seeing names like Roy, Brodeur, Hasek, etc. carved in silver only fueled his already potent desire to win. Not to mention the name that probably stung the most--little brother Andrew Miller. The Stanley Cup is the ultimate goal of hockey on any level. Players in the minors and college, high school and bantam dream of making it to the NHL so they can hoist the silver trophy, the only true validation of success in this sport. They spend every second on the ice trying to get to the Cup, and once they do, they don't rest until they either get a second day with it, or retire trying.

Most of all, I love that the Stanley Cup is truly a player's award. Once those final post-season seconds are played and the red carpet comes out, it goes right into the hands of the winning captain. After he spends a few seconds smearing his sweat, tears, and saliva on it, he passes it to the next player in line, and then the next, until every single contributor--no matter how seemingly insignificant--has had his moment. Only then do the off-ice personnel get to touch hockey's most sacred prize. After that, the names of the champions are printed on the surface of the Cup, and each player is awarded a day of the off season to spend with his new best friend. Stanley's adventures range from dunks in the pool to grave-side visits to dispensing horse feed, and each player finds a way to make his experience as a champion unique and personal. Only in hockey. Only in hockey do players have the opportunity to have their names written down, not only in the history books, but right on the Cup for everyone to see. Only in hockey do they get to experience winning as part of a team, and being a winning individual. Only in hockey does victory have universal body-language: both hands on the Cup, the Cup over the head, the head held high.