What is the price tag on THE STANLEY CUP??

[WildBill]

CRIMENETDAILY
Stanley Cup replica stolen
Someone skates off with 6,000-brick Lego copy of hockey prize

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Posted: January 27, 2003
5:49 p.m. Eastern



© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com


Someone is apparently such a huge fan of hockey – or perhaps toys – that he or she has skated off with a giant Lego replica of the Stanley Cup, the sport's top prize.


NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Lego's Andrew Black surround Stanley Cup replica

The 6,000-brick copy was apparently stolen sometime during last week's annual sports equipment Super Show in Las Vegas.

It's one of only two replicas of the hockey trophy in existence made to promote a new line of Lego NHL hockey sets.

Originally constructed for Lego Americas President Andrew Black to give as a gift to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, one Cup now resides in Bettman's office. The second model, now missing, was built to tour the country and was scheduled to appear this week at the NHL's All-Star festivities in Sunrise, Fla.

"It's nice to see such enthusiasm for this Lego model," said Black. "The fact that it has gone missing is understandable, as it bears stunning resemblance to the real thing."

"We're hoping to convince Commissioner Bettman to let us borrow his personal Cup so that others may enjoy viewing it," he added.

The Danish toy company is offering a reward of NHL tickets and an assortment of new Lego products for the return of the model. The company did not make any mention of time in the penalty box.

 

[WildBill]

The Stanley Cup
It has been called the most famous trophy in all of sports: the Stanley Cup. The original cup was purchased at the request of Frederick Arthur, Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor-General of Canada, who felt the growing sport needed some "outward sign" to designate a champion. It was first awarded in 1893, and for several decades, various amateur athletic associations and hockey leagues would compete for it.
One of those leagues was the NHL, which first formed in 1917. By 1926, it was the only league left standing, so the Stanley Cup was awarded to the NHL champion each year. No other league has laid claim to the cup since.

They Kicked It?
The Stanley Cup has probably endured more indignity than any other major professional sports trophy. In 1905, it was kicked into Ottawa's Rideau Canal on a dare. In 1924, it was left on the side of the road after the players carrying it home stopped to fix a flat. In more recent years, it was reportedly dropped from the second story of a house when a Dallas Stars player attempted to throw it into a swimming pool.
One player christened his child in the Cup. It has been taken to the top of a mountain (Fisher Peak, in British Columbia), and has even traveled to Russia and Japan. A team of three Hall of Fame employees travels with the cup to maintain its safety and security.


The design of the Stanley Cup is kind of complicated, as far as sports trophies go. The trophy Lord Stanley purchased was just the wide bowl that sits atop the cup. When the tradition of engraving the names of every player who won the cup was formalized, extra bands were added to make room. For a while, the cup had a different shape almost every year. It didn't take on its current form until 1958.

The silver rings on the bottom portion of the cup are where players get their names engraved. It takes 13 years to fill a ring, at which point the top ring, the oldest, is removed and placed in the Hall of Fame.

The Stanley Cup that teams carry around the ice when they win the NHL championship isn't even the original Stanley Cup. In 1969, league officials realized Lord Stanley's 78-year-old trophy was getting brittle. Worried that it would be seriously damaged, they commissioned an exact replica. The original bowl was retired, and the replica is used today.

Wait -- it gets even more confusing. If you've been to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Ontario, to see the Stanley Cup, you might not have seen the real Stanley Cup. Each year, every player on the winning cup team gets to spend one day with the trophy. In addition, the cup travels 250 days per year to charity events and NHL promotional activities. When the cup is out, yet another replica takes its place in the hall. How can you tell the difference? The real cup has about a dozen misspelled names, like the name of goalie Jacques Plante, and the word Boston in the 1972 engraving. All the errors are corrected on the replica.

 

[drhockey]

Lander,

Mickey Rats or Sunset Bay?