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The
Stanley Cup, the oldest championship team trophy in North America,
is awarded each year to the NHL playoff champion. It is named
for Lord Stanley, Earl of Preston and Governor General of Canada,
who purchased the silver cup in 1892 for an amateur ice hockey
competition. The original, punch bowl-shaped Stanley Cup was
7 ½ inches high and 11 ½ inches wide and was
made by a London-based silversmith in 1892.
From
1910 to 1926, teams from several Canadian professional ice
hockey leagues and associations (including the NHL) battled
for the cup. Beginning in 1927, only NHL team champions received
the trophy after postseason play. The Stanley Cup championship
is held each spring after the NHL’s 82-game regular season
and four grueling playoff rounds. The championship stages the
Eastern Conference champion against the Western Conference
champion.
When
an NHL team wins the cup, the names of the players, coaches,
managers, and owners are inscribed on the trophy. Silver bands
are added to the trophy when necessary to make room for all
of the names. The trophy is now shaped like a barrel and is
nearly three feet tall. The Stanley Cup is comprised of five
large bands on the bottom and three smaller bands in the middle
that bear the names of the champions from 1893 through 1927.
A copy of Lord Stanley’s original cup sits at the top
of the trophy. When the bottom band is filled at the base,
the oldest of the five large bands is removed from the trophy
and stored along with the original cup at the Hockey Hall of
Fame in Toronto, Canada.
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