by Hap Rocketto
Hockey fever was sweeping New England in the late spring of 2011 as the Boston Bruins battled it out for the National Hockey League Championship and the honor of hoisting the Stanley Cup. It was mentioned that the Stanley Cup is the oldest trophy competed for by professional athletes in North America and was donated, in 1892, by Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley, then the Governor General of Canada.
While Lord Stanley’s Cup may be the oldest professional athletic trophy it is still junior to the Leech Cup, which is arguably the oldest North American sports trophy, by nearly two decades. The Leech Cup was presented to the Amateur Rifle Club of New York by Major Arthur Blennerhassett Leech, Captain of the Irish Rifle Team on the occasion of that team’s visit to America in 1874 and passed on to the National Rifle Association of America in 1901. It is the oldest trophy in competitive target shooting in the United States.
The Stanley Cup, standing 35 ¼ inches and weighing in at 34 ½ pounds, consists of a bowl, three tiered bands, a collar, and five metal bands. The Leech Cup is a massive masterpiece of the Victorian Irish silversmith’s art. The silver tankard is heavily embossed and surmounted by a representation of an ancient tower in ruins. It is currently presented to the winner of the 1,000 yard metallic sight prone match which bears its name.
In the past match winners at the National Matches and NRA Championships were allowed to take the trophies home with them. However, the Leech Cup disappeared after the 1913 National Matches, not to be seen again until 1927. In response the NRA Board of Directors quickly required that all NRA trophies to be kept by the NRA and stored at NRA Headquarters or Camp Perry during the matches.
On the other hand the Stanley Cup, in a whimsical tradition unlike any other sport, is passed around like the first born at a baptism or briss. Each player and staff member of the winning team is allowed to keep the Cup in their possession for 24 hours during the summer following the play offs.
The past adventures of the Stanley Cup make the 14 year disappearance of the Leech Cup seem like a fortnight in a monastery. Apparently concurrent possession of the Stanley Cup, alcohol, and questionable judgment enjoy a long and storied relationship. For openers, after the Ottawa Silver Seven won it in 1905 they quickly began a pub crawl of Brobdingnagian proportions with the Cup in tow. In the shank of the night, after imbibing more than a few, several of the Seven thought it would be interesting to see if they could boot the trophy across the Rideau Canal which connects the city of Ottawa, on the Ottawa River, to the city of Kingston on Lake Ontario. The Cup disappeared in a soaring arc into the darkness and never made it across. Fortunately the Rideau was frozen and the players were able to retrieve it the following morning after they came to their senses.
The Montreal Wanderers won it in 1907 and proudly took their picture with the cup. Some months later they realized that no one knew the whereabouts of the trophy. Retracing their steps they eventually arrived at the photographer’s home where they found it holding the photographer’s mother’s prized geraniums.
The Montreal Canadiens proudly took possession of the Cup in 1924 and tucked it safely away in the trunk of the car taking them to the post game celebration. On the way the vehicle had a flat. The jack and spare were dug out and the tire quickly replaced. The exuberant hockey players arrived at the banquet hall and quickly uncorked a few Jeroboams of champagne to fill the Cup for a victory toast, only to find that they didn’t have it with them. They piled back into the car and frantically drove back to where they changed the tire and, much to their relief, found the Cup sitting forlornly in a snow bank three kilometers from the hotel.
Mark Messier, who won six Stanley Cups with both the Edmonton Oilers and New York Rangers, used to bring it to his favorite Edmonton strip club and let patrons drink out of it. When he dented it in 1998 he simply brought it to a local auto body repair shop to have it repaired.
More than one player has proudly posed his naked infant child in the cup for a celebratory photograph without regard to the child’s state of potty training. The results were inevitable when the baby was startled by the flash bulbs and excitement.
The Cup has been put to more bucolic and domestic use by others. Colorado Avalanche defenseman Sylvain Lefebvre, after insuring that La Coupe Stanley was sterilized I am sure, had it filled with Holy Water to serve as the baptismal font for his daughter, Alexanne.
While I am sure the NRA has the best interests of the trophies at heart by not letting them out of their sight there is something of the imp in me that wishes, like a Stanley Cup winner, I could have brought the RWS Trophy home with me from Camp Perry in 2002. In celebration of my victory I can picture in my mind’s eye my family poised about the silver bowl, napkins tucked into collars, spoons at the ready, prepared to dive into a massive ice cream treat. Imagine, if you will, pineapple topping spooned over strawberry, chocolate syrup enrobing vanilla, and strawberries oozing down the chocolate like lava on Kilauea. This mountain range of ice cream would be garnished with crushed nuts, whipped cream, and maraschino cherries, ringed by a garland of banana slices.
Thus, the victory would have been made all the sweeter.
