The Stanley Cup

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rofessional leagues would eventually elbow their way in. (Amateur teams competed for the Cup until 1910, when the professional National Hockey Association (NHA) was formed, which in 1917 became the National Hockey League (NHL), whose teams competed for the Cup against teams from other [mostly western] pro leagues until 1926. By that time, the other leagues had folded, thus making the Stanley Cup the exclusive domain of the NHL.) In fact, Lord Stanley, later Earl of Derby, returned to England ten months before the first Stanley Cup playoff. Ironically, he never saw a Stanley Cup game.

Lord Stanley effectively abandoned his Cup. He wouldn't be the last person to do so.

OTTAWA, 1903. A member of Ottawa's Silver Seven took the Cup home. The teammates found out, a scuffle ensued, and the Cup was tossed into a cemetery.

OTTAWA, 1905. After the Ottawa Silver Seven won the Stanley Cup, one celebrant boasted he could kick it across the frozen-at-the-time Rideau Canal (which links Ottawa on the Ott...