The_Stanley_Cup

The Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup: A History of Abuse and Neglect "One of the great rules of hockey is: On the Stanley Cup, all germs are healthy." --George Vecsey, The New York Times, June 11, 1999 I got to touch the Stanley Cup. Me. I've ice skated only once in my life, I've never played a real game of hockey, I hadn't even seen a hockey game on television until high school (1990) and I didn't see one in person until January 1999. Still, I touched something that I imagine most serious hockey players don't get to touch their entire lives--the oldest trophy that can be won by professional athletes in North America, the Stanley Cup. How did this I get to touch the cup' In 1998, the Detroit Red Wings won their second consecutive Cup. Every member of the winning team gets the Cup and its entourage of bodyguards for twenty-four hours in the subsequent summer. One of the Red Wings on that '98 team, Grand Rapids Michigan-native Mike Knuble (actually, he's from the Grand Rapids suburb of Kentwood, but why fret over details'), brought the Cup to his old high school, East Kentwood High School. Though I write these words in Chicago, I'm cup, stanley, montreal, hockey, trophy, new, york, one, game, after, won, time, bowl, teams, first, took, said, out, ottawa, until, two, players, over, left, been, whom, touch, team, silver, seven, red, rangers, messier, inches, grand