Stanley Cup
The
Stanley Cup is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoff winner after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. Originally commissioned in 1892 as the
Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, the trophy is named for Lord Stanley of Preston, then–Governor General of Canada, who awarded it to Canada's top-ranking amateur ice hockey club, which the entire Stanley family supported, with the sons and daughters playing and promoting the game. The first Cup was awarded in 1893 to Montreal HC. In 1915, the two professional ice hockey organizations, the National Hockey Association and the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, reached a gentlemen's agreement in which their respective champions would face each other for the Stanley Cup. After a series of league mergers and folds, the Stanley "Presentation Cup" was established as the
de facto championship trophy of the NHL in 1926 and then the
de jure NHL championship prize in 1947. There are actually three Stanley Cups: the original bowl of the "Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup", the authenticated "Presentation Cup", and the "Replica Cup" at the Hall of Fame.