The NJ Devils lost the Stanley Cup

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

Hockey officials and the New Jersey Devils are breathing a big, collective sigh of relief right now.

 

The Stanley Cup, the most famous trophy in all of sports, was missing for at least 24 hours last week, the Toronto Sun reported on its Web site Monday.

 

Vincent Lukac, father-in-law of Devils forward Jiri Bicek, led a welcoming committee of 15,000 fans in the main square in Kosice, Slovakia, for the Cup's arrival on Thursday, according to The Sun.

 

Two Hockey Hall of Fame officials responsible for escorting the Cup arrived on Thursday. The Cup itself did not.

 

And panic ensued, according to The Sun.

 

"From what we understand, the Cup was supposed to have been flown from the United States via Toronto to Vienna, then from the Austrian capital to Kosice," Zdeno Simonides, editor-in-chief of the Sports Daily in Bratislava (Slovakia), told The Sun. "Apparently, the travel arrangements from the U.S. to Toronto were too tight, allowing the two guards to make the transfer, but not the Stanley Cup box on four wheels."

 

The organizers figured the Cup was left in Vienna. However, according to The Sun, Austrian airport officials said they had not seen it.

 

Disaster -- but not high anxiety -- was averted when the Cup was located and finally arrived in Kosice (from Vienna) on Friday.

 

The delay wreaked some havoc on the Cup schedule. The Cup is supposed to stay with each member of the champion Devils for a 24-hour period. To save time, Richard Smehlik reportedly drove approximately 250 miles from Ostrava to pick up the Stanley Cup. Later the Cup made its way to Trebic in the Czech Republic, so Patrik Elias could have his picture taken with the prize.

 

You'd think with all the security they have on it, something like this wouldn't happen. Wouldn't the Devils feel stupid if the Cup got lost (or worse) for real on their watch?

[Guest treble charged]

They should take it away from them and award it to it's rightful owner: The Toronto Maple Leafs. I mean, if the Leafs hadn't lost to Philadelphia, they would have beaten Ottawa in the next round (just like they always do) and then they were due against Jersey in the conference finals, and, of course, they would have beaten Anaheim in the finals. So, the Cup should be there's, naturally.

[Guest Choken One]

riiiiiiiiiiiight.

 

 

It's nothing new.

 

Teams have lost the damn thing MILLIONS of time...

[NYU 0]

Not the first time this has happened to the Stanley Cup.

 

From snopes.com:

 

In 1905 the Cup spent the night on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa. The Ottawa team had won possession of the Cup, and one of its well-lit members accepted a challenge to drop-kick it into the canal. Fortunately for all concerned the canal was frozen solid, so the booted Cup bounced into the night rather than sinking into oblivion. The next morning several remorseful Ottawa players returned to the scene of the crime and retrieved the dented Cup.

 

In 1907 it was stolen from a photographer's home (where it had been forgotten by the Montreal Wanderers) and held for ransom. When no one showed interest in its return, the thief left it at the photographer's place. The lady of the house used it as a flower pot until Wanderers brass remembered it had been returned there.

 

In 1924 Montreal Canadiens players on their way to a victory party stashed the trophy in the trunk of their car. Part way to the festivities, the vehicle had a flat. The players removed the Cup to get at the spare, changed the tire and drove off . . . leaving the Stanley Cup perched on a snowbank. Only when it came time to drink champagne from the Cup did they realize they didn't have it Cup with them. They drove back to where they'd changed the tire, found the Cup sitting there patiently waiting for them, and hastily reclaimed it.

 

In 1970 it was stolen from the Hockey Hall of Fame. The story attached to this incident is apocryphal but nonetheless has entered the canon of Cup lore. Who had the Cup was apparently no secret to at least one of the police officers working the case, and he successfully used this knowledge to negotiate for the trophy's safe return, getting it back a few weeks after it was purloined. However, he needed to deflect suspicion from the parties who handed over the Cup, which meant the return had to have happened on a day when all the participants had valid alibis. The Detective-Sergeant involved accomplished this by feeding the newspapers a tale about awakening one morning a few days after the heist to find the Cup sitting at the edge of his driveway.

 

In 1993 some members of the Montreal Canadiens took it for a swim in Patrick Roy's pool. Thirty-six pounds of silver does not easily master the backstroke, as these Einsteins finally concluded. "The Stanley Cup," Habs captain Guy Carbonneau said, "does not float." Too bad they hadn't thought to ask Mario Lemieux — in 1991 hockey's grail had reposed at the bottom of his pool after a teammate took a dive with it in his arms.

 

In 1996 the Cup was credited with the assist on a goal scored by the stork. The Rileys, a married couple who had been trying to have a baby for fourteen years, had given up hope of having that particular dream fulfilled because the doctors pegged Cheryl Riley's chances of conceiving somewhere between slim and none. Then Mike Ricci of the Colorado Avalanche brought the Cup to a party attended by Cheryl. On a whim she kissed the Cup. Shortly thereafter she delightedly discovered she was pregnant. By counting backwards she determined she must have conceived somewhere during the weekend she bussed the Cup, if not even that very night. The resulting child was born on 6 May 1997 and christened Stanley C. Gordon Jeff Riley. The "C" stands for "cup."

[Guest The Czech Republic]

See? You can't trust New Jersey with a trophy of the magnitude that the Stanley Cup has. So for this offense, bar them from postseason play as a punishment for them and an incentive for the fans to watch.

[Guest starvenger]

In 1924 Montreal Canadiens players on their way to a victory party stashed the trophy in the trunk of their car. Part way to the festivities, the vehicle had a flat. The players removed the Cup to get at the spare, changed the tire and drove off . . . leaving the Stanley Cup perched on a snowbank. Only when it came time to drink champagne from the Cup did they realize they didn't have it Cup with them. They drove back to where they'd changed the tire, found the Cup sitting there patiently waiting for them, and hastily reclaimed it.

This is still one of my favourite Cup stories...

[Guest redbaron51]

I thought in the 70's some one threw it in the St. Lawerence River....

 

 

oh well

[Guest acnx]

They should take it away from them and award it to it's rightful owner: The Toronto Maple Leafs. I mean, if the Leafs hadn't lost to Philadelphia, they would have beaten Ottawa in the next round (just like they always do) and then they were due against Jersey in the conference finals, and, of course, they would have beaten Anaheim in the finals. So, the Cup should be there's, naturally.

Just curious...

 

When was the last time the laffs won the cup?