The significance of the Stanley cup in Canadian culture is paramount when looking at cultural icons that transcend through all aspects of Canadian society. The trophy signifies much of what the Canadian collective consciousness believes, fair play, competition, loyalty, and healthy existence. The origins of the Stanley cup only add to the lore of the most recognizable trophy in the world. The story of the Stanley Cup is a rocky and often clouded in conteversy one because o

The cup is internationally known and is coveted by both sides of the 49th parallel. Americans and Canadians teams alike are extremely committed to hoisting the cup. The cup itself is only won by a collection of hockey players and touched by them only for brief periods of time during their reign as champions. Even though the actual participants are few in number the entire community, city or nation proudly boasts of its success and often is forthcoming to announce how many times they have won the cup. Great rivalries have been fostered between Montreal and Toronto based entirely as to who has the better hockey club measured by the amount of times it has held the Stanley Cup.

The Idea that a trophy can be seen as a cultural icon may not be new but never has a trophy been awarded so much fame. The Stanley cup has been on late night television talk shows as its own guest not once but twice. The trophy has been around hockey in its purest form and eventually handed over as property of the National Hockey League 25 years after it first came to Canada.

Hockey is a way of life in many rural and urban centers across Canada and the entire focus is on one day being able to play in the NHL and compete for the chance to have you name placed on the Stanley cup as have the many before you and the many to follow you. The game of hockey has become less violent partly because the players themselves are considered a damageable commodity and the ruling bodies of the game can see the financial implications created by injured players. The cup now sits in the Hockey hall of fame under glass with its original scratching of names done by the Ottawa’s silver seven whom Arthur Stanley was a part of the night they hoisted it in victory. The idea that this elusive cup started as a challenge cup for the rich and famous and now is sought after by the players who are only rich and famous because of the game is almost laughable. The player on a modern hockey club in the national hockey league for the most part is not the son of a doctor or a lawyer for they are ordinary men with exceptional talent for the game that they have groomed since his childhood. The player payroll for a team at the turn into the twenty first century is in the millions of dollars. The game itself has not change by much over the last 100 years but the business of hockey has exploded like few others. The Stanley cup stands proud behind the game of hockey as the game of hockey all but eradicates the meaning behind this royal gift and reduces it to a level fit for trinkets and merchandise that is fit for a tourist.

Hockey is primarily a social activity and the problems in hockey reflect problems in society for Canadians. Although most Canadians do not often take the trophy for this game in this viewpoint is no less true. The quest to hold the Stanley cup is an economic phenomenon, a real industry as vital to Canada as timber and wheat as a natural resource. This natural resource has been fostered, harvested and exploited by the modern capitalists in North America. The drive for this little bowl has transcended language barriers in this country that have existed with sometimes-unproductive debate since confederation and before. Hockey has its own dynamic in Canada and has become heavily influence by our neighbors south of the border. Hockey is a historical phenomena is linked heavily with historical forces associated with the shaping of our society on a whole and in consequence the way Canadians view sports in general and the Stanley cup sits atop of this game.

The challenge trophy was to be passed from one club to another as property of the champions for only a short period of time all the while remaining under the control of the trustees put in place by Lord Stanley himself. The trustees had final control over the cup and whom it would be awarded to. The ill treatment of the cup forced the trustees to employ a silversmith in Montreal to remedy the problem. Th

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