Traditions and anecdotes associated with the Stanley Cup

It is also one of only two trophies in professional North American sports which has the name of the winning players, coaches, management, and club staff engraved upon it, the other being the CFL's Grey Cup.

One of the oldest traditions, started by the 1896 Winnipeg Victorias, dictates that the winning team drink champagne from the top bowl after their victory.

As Bettman gave the Cup to Red Wings' captain Steve Yzerman, he hoisted it before putting it on Konstantinov's lap and helping him parade with the trophy.

[8] New York Islanders captain Denis Potvin hoisted the Wales Trophy during the 1982 and 1983 playoffs en route to the club successfully defending the Cup each time, sweeping the Vancouver Canucks in 1982 and the Edmonton Oilers in 1983.

However, in 1994, Stephane Matteau, then of the New York Rangers, admitted that he tapped the Wales Trophy with his stick's blade before the overtime period in game seven of the Eastern Conference Final.

They did the same thing again in winning the 2016 and 2017 Stanley Cups; conversely, the San Jose Sharks' Joe Pavelski stayed true to the general tradition and did not touch the Campbell Bowl.

Deryk Engelland accepted the Campbell Bowl for the Golden Knights, becoming the first player to pick up the trophy on the ice since Iginla 14 years earlier.

The Golden Knights reversed course in 2023 after captain Mark Stone refused to touch the Campbell Bowl; they eventually won the Stanley Cup that year.

However, the Lightning lost to the Blackhawks in the Cup Finals, so when the team won their third Eastern Conference championship five seasons later, Stamkos changed course and touched the trophy.

The Colorado Avalanche, led by then-captain Joe Sakic, had previously touched the Campbell Bowl en route to their 1996 and 2001 Cup wins.

During the 1980s dynasty years with Wayne Gretzky, the Edmonton Oilers touched the Campbell Bowl each time they won it and went on to win the Stanley Cup in five of six occasions.

After the Oilers won the Campbell Bowl in 2024, captain Connor McDavid stuck to recent trends and refused to hoist the trophy.

A 2023 promo ad for ESPN's SportsCenter showed Stanley Cup champions Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault of the Vegas Golden Knights running the trophy through a dishwasher, cleaning it up after a summer of day-with-a-player activities in preparation for the 2023-2024 NHL season.

[23] In Russia, it has been to Red Square and a soccer game at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow,[2] and to a monument near Yekaterinburg marking the geographic boundary between Europe and Asia.

In 2012, Anze Kopitar took the Cup to his home country of Slovenia and hoisted it atop Bled Castle after the Los Angeles Kings won that year.

[2] It served as the engagement ring bearer for the Tampa Bay Lightning's André Roy while in a helicopter flown by Guy Lafleur.

Jeremy Jacobs, the owner of the 2011 NHL champion Boston Bruins, took the Cup to Florida for employees involved in the decommissioning to view and photograph.

Seventeen former players played a ball hockey game versus Canadian soldiers on a concrete rink in the Afghan desert.

[46] In 1924, members of the Montreal Canadiens, en route to celebrate their win at owner Leo Dandurand's home, left it by the road after repairing a flat tire.

Some fans claimed this act "desecrated" the Cup, leading to the Curse of 1940, which allegedly caused the Rangers to wait 54 years for another win.

A Montreal fan (Ken Kilander) in the stands was upset, so he left his seat, ran down to the front lobby and broke into the glass showcase where the Stanley Cup was on display.

In 1964, Red Kelly of the Toronto Maple Leafs posed for a photo with his infant son sitting in the Cup, only to find the child had urinated in it.

[46] The 1991 Pittsburgh Penguins and 1993 Montreal Canadiens decided to test its buoyancy by tossing it into Mario Lemieux's and Patrick Roy's respective pools (then–Canadiens' captain Guy Carbonneau observed "The Stanley Cup does not float.

[55] In 1999 and 2003, the Cup made a trip to Joe Nieuwendyk's alma mater, Cornell University, both times visiting a local college bar.

In 2003, the Cup was slated to make its first-ever visit to Slovakia with New Jersey Devils' Jiri Bicek, but was left behind in Canada; it was on the next flight out of Toronto.

[57] Finally, on August 22, 2004, Walter Neubrand, keeper of the Cup, boarded a plane to Fort St. John, British Columbia, to deliver it to Tampa Bay Lightning head scout Jake Goertzen.

[58] Also, in May 2007, the Cup made it to the set of ABC's Boston Legal, a series written and created by former college hockey player David E. Kelley.

[59] On June 7, 2007, after the Anaheim Ducks won the Cup, their captain Scott Niedermayer brought the trophy to the set in Los Angeles of Jim Rome is Burning.

[63] On October 9, 2008, Def Leppard's Joe Elliott placed the Cup upside down on a pedestal on the stage during one of their NHL Face-Off Rocks segments at the Fox Theater in Detroit.

[69] On July 12, 2021, during a strong thunderstorm at an outdoor celebration following the conclusion of the Tampa Bay Lightning's victory parade, Patrick Maroon accidentally dropped the Stanley Cup due to the rainy conditions, damaging the bowl.