NHL hockey insiders: About the Stanley Cup, the splendid trophy the champions win...

[brush]

has it always been the height it is now, or have additional tiers been added over time to fit the names of all the championship team members added every year?

[bluedigger]

1. Good question.

The original bowl was made of silver and is 18.5 centimetres (7+5⁄16 in) high and 29 centimetres (11+7⁄16 in) in diameter. The current Stanley Cup is topped with a copy of the original bowl, made of a silver and nickel alloy. It has a height of 89.5 centimetres (35+1⁄4 in) and weighs 15.6 kilograms (34+1⁄2 lb).[5] Like the Grey Cup, and unlike the trophies awarded by the other major professional sports leagues of North America, a new Stanley Cup is not made every year. The winners originally kept it until a new champion was crowned, but winning teams currently get the Stanley Cup during the summer and a limited number of days during the season. Every year since 1924, a select portion of the winning players, coaches, management, and club staff names are engraved on its bands, which is unusual among trophies. However, there is not enough room to include all the players and non-players, so some names must be omitted. Between 1924 and 1940, a new band was added almost every year that the trophy was awarded, earning the nickname "Stovepipe Cup" due to the unnatural height of all the bands. In 1947, the cup size was reduced, but not all the large rings were the same size. In 1958, the modern one-piece Cup was designed with a five-band barrel which could contain 13 winning teams per band. Every 13 years when the bottom band of the Stanley Cup is filled with names of champions, the top band is removed and retired to be displayed in the vault of the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. The four bands below it are slid up one place and a new blank band added to the bottom. The first winning team engraved on the newest band is thus, in theory (see Engraving section below), displayed on the trophy for the next 65 years.[6] It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug.[7] The Stanley Cup is surrounded by numerous legends and traditions, the oldest of which is the winning team drinking champagne from it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Cup

[brush]

2. Thanks much for all this info/history of the Cup.

It's a beautiful trophy.

[True Dough]

3. This year's Stanley Cup winner

will either be a second straight championship for the Florida Panthers or the Cup is heading back to Canada with the Edmonton Oilers, who lost it in 7 games to Florida last year.

It should be an interesting series.