125 years ago today, hockey’s beloved Stanley Cup was born.
In the photo, you can see the Montreal Hockey Club posing with the trophy, as they were the first team to ever capture Lord Stanley’s Cup. You may be wondering; how exactly did this beautiful trophy come to be? Well, here’s a back story on it.
After being appointed as the Governor General of Canada in 1888, Lord Stanley of Preston fell in love with the game of hockey when he was first exposed to it. His sons, Arthur and Algernon, formed one of the earliest professional teams, the Ottawa Rideau Hall Rebels, and convinced their father to donate a trophy as a visible sign of the hockey championship. Shortly after, Stanley purchased the ‘bowl’ for ‘ten guineas’, which is equivalent to $1,297 2016 dollars. The Cup was originally meant to reward the top amateur hockey team in Canada.
(Hulton Archives/Getty Images)
Stanley never witnessed a Stanley Cup championship game, as he eventually had to return to England to become the Earl of Derby, a position his brother Earl previously held before passing away. In 1893, the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association was presented the first trophy on behalf of the Montreal Hockey Club, who were the champions of the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada.
In 1947, the NHL reached an agreement with the Cup's trustees to grant control of it to the NHL. Since, Hall of Famers such as Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, and Bobby Orr have all had their names engraved on what is viewed by many as the greatest trophy on earth.
