Det News blogger drinks from Stanley Cup and brags

Daneyko brought it into his restaurant one year. You should have seen how many people were on it. No wonder those NHL guys wear gloves.

 

I don't think anyone other than hockey purists know that you're not supposed to touch it if you didn't win it. Hell, I don't think that many of the players even know that.

 

Your right about the average fan, but the players know, junior players even know. It may sound silly but that is the way it is for hockey players.

 

It doesn't sound silly at all. After I held it and posed with it, our hockey writer told me and I felt really bad. Some of the others there chided him for being a buzzkill.

But a lot of players bring it to personal appearances or restaurants and bars, which is basically encouraging people to hold it, pose with it, etc...

I've seen most of the top sports trophies up close and the Stanley Cup is the coolest by far, and I'm not a hockey guy on any level.

 

"Don't touch it. Don't even look at it."

 

... shooting that picture was an eight-hour shift?

 

It came to our town as part of the ECHL all-star game one year. I got a picture taken with it but I didn't touch it.

I did drink from the Kelly Cup postgame one year, but I had done some volunteer video work for the coaching staff that season helping break down tape and wasn't covering the team.

 

You can get your picture taken with it at the Hockey Hall of Fame. I bet they bring in some serious cash with that.

During the SportsJournalists.com Toronto outing our very own Sam Mills had his picture taken wearing his Loser Whalercane sweater

Brendan Shanahan brought The Cup to the Goose when he was with Detroit. There's a great picture on the back wall of Peter, the late Greek Waiter, holding it over his head.

There's also another great photo of Shannie and his brother in their parent's backyard in Mimico.

Brendan's got the Stanley Cup, Brian's holding the Mann Cup, the lacrosse version of the Stanley Cup.

 

In 1997 one of the sports reporters in Detroit drank from the cup on live television.

Last night a different reporter from the same station declined to drink and said he wanted to, but wasn't on the team so it wasn't right.

 

As a hockey fan, I don't mind touching it. My rationale is I never will have the chance to win it, and to touch it is sharing in the game's history rather than prematurely taking a chance to celebrate.

But I wouldn't lift it over my head, let alone drink from it. That's an honor reserved for those who earned it. And I wouldn't do any of them if I was working.

 

I think that is the best way I've heard it put.

 

Players definitely know about this. You'll also notice that they won't touch the conference championship trophies when they are presented. They just stand next to them posing for pictures and then skate away.
I also don't remember seeing anybody hoist the Conn Smythe Trophy like Zetterberg did last night. I'm sure it's happened, but I just don't remember.

The Cup once made a trip to my hometown, one week after I had moved. A bunch of my friends sent me pictures. One of the players brought it to this dive bar he used to hang out at in college, and you'd be appalled to know the kind of people drinking out of it that night. Believe me.