For Phil Pritchard, that was just the case. It kind of just turned into that and it went from there. The latter was the case for the Los Angeles Kings. In , the Kings won the Stanley Cup for the first time in 45 years. Some of them had wives and even kids the second time around, so both times are unique. This includes Pritchard. That was the first time that was ever done and I think that was so special because they did it for the people in that area.
For the players, it was that area that made them who they are and they wanted to give back, and they gave back in that way. So, to me, that was really unique. It was the first time for it but at the same time, it meant so much to the community but it meant just as much for the players, as well.
In what is now his fifth decade as the Keeper of the Cup, it goes without saying that Phil Pritchard has seen and done more than most of us can even dream of. When the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup this past September, it was met with a mix of fascination and skepticism. Nevertheless, many applauded the NHL and company for the tireless work involved in not only putting the playoffs together but for setting the table for quality hockey that fans had been missing for months.
So, from a sense point of view, everything was so crystal clear. The Cup is intentionally kept away from the teams for as long as possible. The Cup never even made it to rink level that night. Due to the delay of the broadcast, Pritchard was able to hear the result of the game before seeing in on TV. After the Cup is won, the Hockey Hall of Fame works in conjunction with the winning team to come up with a schedule for the team to spend its days with the Cup.
Wherever the Cup goes, either Pritchard or one or more of his associates must accompany it. Having seen so many Cup adventures in his time, Pritchard certainly possesses a unique perspective when it comes to what he believes are special moments. One of the things he remembers most from this summer is being with Kings center, Anze Kopitar , in Slovenia.
Pritchard is one of the Keepers of the Stanley Cup he's got the Twitter handle to prove it , traveling with it to appearances and, in the summer, to the homes of hockey players whose team has taken the sport's top prize.
The tradition of the Cup going player to player evolved over a number of years, and in , the New Jersey Devils were the first team that had every player on the team get a chance to take the cup home for a day. The staff will say this is a duplicate; the real one is in LA today or wherever we happen to be.
Probably the first years of the Stanley Cup, there was only one. The real one is the one that travels all the time. We get over requests a year from teams, leagues, charities … where possible, we try and assist when we can, especially with promoting the game and raising money for charities.
Anyone can put in a request, except for corporations or businesses that are not partners. But in Europe, the airlines will let us bring it on still. It is a VIP luggage section, so we get treated very well there. We always get there half an hour sooner than we should be because everyone wants photos. How do you pack the Cup for traveling? Do you have a special case for it? Yeah, we do. Flying from Paris to Stockholm once, [the airline] wouldn't allow it on the flight because of its size.
It took a lot of talks with managers and then we lifted the Cup out of the case and placed it on the table, and two people from Minnesota—tourists—just happened to be walking by and started freaking out and getting photos.
Then I think the airline realized the importance of it. France is traditionally not a hockey country, however one player on a team that won the Cup was from France.
Do the players get the Cup before or after their names are chiseled on it? They get it before, actually. It takes about 10 days. What we do is, we try, when they go back to training camp, to get the Cup engraved so when it comes back into the town for their home opener celebration week, their names are on it. Are you really there with them and the Cup at all times? When a team wins the Cup, they get days with it—from when they win until their home opener, which is October sometime.
During those days, the players, the coach and staff, the owners, the scouts, they all get that opportunity with it. We work closely with the team and the NHL to set up a schedule that is basically done geographically around the world. The Rangers have Czechs, Norway.
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