On a trip to Toronto, I decided that the second thing I would do (after ascending the CN Tower) would be to visit the Hockey Hall of Fame. I had been a hockey fan since college and while I came close to seeing the Stanley Cup in person during the playoffs one year, I had never gotten to and was excited to see it (and everything else) at the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Upon entering the Hall of Fame, I happily gave my admission charge to the young woman working at the counter. I started up a conversation with her, and said that I knew that there were actually two Stanley Cups — one that stays at the Hall of Fame and one that the winning team keeps for the year, sharing it day-by-day amongst all of the players, coaches, equipment managers, and everyone else affiliated with the team. But I wanted to know which Cup had the actual Stanley Cup—the ceremonial bowl that was the original championship trophy—at the top of it.
She said “neither one.” What?! How could that be, I wondered. It was as if my love of the game left me a little bit. She said that the real Stanley Cup bowl is kept in a vault, but that the vault was at the Hockey Hall of Fame and I could see it.
That made me a little bit happier, and it was great to see the Stanley Cup trophy (as we all know it) as well as the actual Stanley Cup bowl in person. You could actually see where the players of the past etched their city’s name into the bowl (look carefully at the photo here and you’ll see “OTTAWA” carved into it), which became the tradition of engraving all the names into the rings of the Stanley Cup trophy.
But I did still wonder…why during the Stanley Cup Finals when they bring out the Cup do they do so with white gloves on, and why do the television announcers always bring up the tradition of drinking out of the bowl on top, when that bowl is a replica on both trophies and has only been having sips of champagne drank out of it since the 1970s? A little part of my hockey love went away that day, but I still understand how the traditions of hockey live on even if it’s just a replica bowl at the top of the trophy now.
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