The Stanley Cup

The Stanley Cup, notably the oldest trophy competed for by professional athletes
in North America, was donated in 1892 by Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley, Lord Stanley of Preston and son of the Earl of Derby. He purchased the trophy
 a silver cup measuring 7 ½ inches high by 11 ½ inches across for 10 Guineas ($50.00 at that time) to be presented to "the championship hockey club of the Dominion of Canada." The first team ever awarded the Stanley Cup was
the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association in 1893.

Since 1910, when the National Hockey Association took possession of the Stanley Cup, the trophy has been symbolic of professional hockey supremacy. Beginning in 1926, only NHL teams have competed for this prized trophy.

The Montreal Canadians have won a record 23 Stanley Cups since the formation of
the NHL (they also won in 1916), with Toronto a distant second at 13. The Habs
also hold the record for most consecutive championships with five, accomplished
between the years 1956 and 1960 inclusive.

Overshadowing all other championship trophies in sports, the legend and glory of
the Stanley Cup continues to live in the dreams of hockey players and fans alike.

The Stanley Cup was originally known as the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup

• The winners to return the Cup in good order when required by the trustees in order that it may be handed over to any other team which may win it.
• Each winning team to have the club name and year engraved on a silver ring fitted on the Cup.
• The Cup to remain a challenge competition and not the property of any one team, even if won more than once.
• The trustees to maintain absolute authority in all situations or disputes over the winner of the Cup.
• A substitute trustee to be named in the event that one of the existing trustees drops out.

The first winner of the Stanley Cup was the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association (AAA) hockey club, champions of the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada for 1893. Ironically, Lord Stanley never witnessed a championship game nor attended a presentation of his trophy, having returned to his native England in the midst of the 1893 season. Nevertheless, the quest for his trophy has become one of the world's most prestigious sporting competitions.