The Stanley Cup is one of Canada’s most famous national icons It is sought after by the greatest hockey players in the world and is the oldest trophy competed for by professional athletes in North America. Canadian hockey players can be considered twenty-first century gladiators as they strive to win the cup on behalf of their fans. Although there are many in the National Hockey League, most will spend their careers and never get the chance to hold the Cup over their heads in victory. This fact only increases the allure and strengthens the competition in the quest for one of the world’s most prestigious sporting trophies. Let us look at the origin of the Stanley Cup.

We can thank Lord Stanley for his generosity in recognizing the need for a championship trophy that could be fought for each year by the best. Originally, Stanley donated this trophy as an award for Canada’s top-ranking amateur hockey club. Lord Stanley of Preston, the 16th Earl of Derby became intrigued with this popular Canadian sport while serving as Governor General from 1888 to 1893. Although Stanley was not a hockey player, he appreciated the sport as a proud hockey dad.

His sons were happy to find a sport in Canada where they could use their skating skills. In particular, his third son Arthur, organized a hockey team called the Rebels. The Ontario Hockey Association was formed in 1890 after a meeting of various hockey club members agreed to the formation. Arthur and his brother Algie talked Stanley into donating the trophy that the teams would strive for in the new association. At an Ottawa Athletic Association dinner on March 18th 1892, the announcement was made by Lord Kilcoursie, a team-mate of Arthur’s on the Rideau Rebels club and friend of Lord Stanley. In his words:

“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.” “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.”

With the announcement made the pressure was on to create the perfect trophy - a gold-lined silver bowl, 7 1/2 inches high by 11 1/2 inches in diameter. The trophy was originally called the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup but the public constantly referred to the trophy as Lord Stanley’s Hockey Cup or The Stanley Cup.

Stanley wanted guidelines to govern the championship struggle for the Cup and appointed two trustees to see to this task. Philip D. Ross and Sheriff John Sweetland came up with 5 straightforward rules that we still recognize today:

1. The winners must return the Cup in good order so that it may be handed over to any other team that may win it.
2. Each winning team would have the names of the club and the year engraved on a silver ring that fitted onto the Cup.
3. The Cup was a trophy in a competition and consequently was not the property on any team, even if they won it more than once.
4. The trustees would act as the absolute authority in all situations or disputes that arose over the winner of the Cup.
5. There would be a substitute trustee named if one member dropped out.

Lord Stanley de Preston On Stanley’s authority the Cup was first presented to the AHA (Amateur Hockey Association) Montreal team in 1893; a team which won an amateur championship tournament that had ended on New Year’s Day. This was supposed to be a temporary situation while the details of a match were coordinated between the Toronto and Ottawa clubs, but when an agreement could not be reached on the location of the game, the match simply never took place. The Montreal team was considered to be the best regardless of a playoff game, but every year to follow there has been a play-off game. The first play-off game was between Ottawa and Montreal in early 1894. Montreal won 3-1. Ironically, Stanley and his family had already moved back to England because his term as Governor General had ended. He never saw a Stanley Cup game or the presentation of his now famous hockey trophy.

During the next thirty or so years, the field that was challenging for the Cup narrowed when in 1914 the trustees announced that the fight would be between the champion from the eastern professional National Hockey Association (formed in 1910), and the western professional Pacific Coast Hockey Association (formed in 1912). In 1917 the National Hockey League that we know today was formed and in 1926 a tradition was born with the NHL playoffs deciding the winner of the Stanley Cup - the trophy for the best professional hockey team in North America.