what players get their name on the stanley cup
Stanley Cup Unlike the trophies awarded by the other major professional sports leagues of North America, a new Stanley Cup is not made each year. Originally, the winners kept it until a new champion was crowned. Currently, winning teams get the Stanley Cup during the summer and a limited number of days during the season. It is unusual among trophies to include winning members' names. Every year since 1924, a select portion of the winning players, coaches, management, and club staff names are engraved on its bands. However, there is not enough room to include all the players and non-players, so some names must be omitted. Between 1924 and 1940, a new band was added almost every year the trophy was awarded, earning the nickname "Stovepipe Cup" due to the unnatural height of all the bands. In 1947 the cup size was reduced, but not all the large rings were the same size. In 1958 the modern one-piece Cup was designed with a five-band barrel which could contain 13 winning teams per band. To prevent the Stanley Cup from growing, when the bottom band is full, the oldest band is removed and preserved in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and a new blank band added to the bottom. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously (chiefly by sportswriters) as Lord Stanley's Mug.[6] The Stanley Cup is surrounded by numerous legends and traditions, the oldest of which is the celebratory drinking of champagne out of the cup by the winning team.
Captain (ice hockey) Captains are usually veteran players, though on occasion younger players are chosen. The selection is often seen as an important moment for a team, and one that can affect the team's (and newly appointed captain's) performance. Captains are selected by different means: in some instances, teams have held votes among their players to choose a team captain, while on other occasions, the choice was made by team management. Captains are often chosen due to their seniority in the game and years of service with their current club. However, franchise players—current or emerging stars—have also been named captains.[1] Though not required, many captains have previously served as alternate captains of their team. Some selections or removals of NHL captaincies have been controversial, more so than the other North American professional sports leagues. For instance, in Canada men's national ice hockey team, then-General Manager Bobby Clarke selected Eric Lindros for the 1998 Olympics, considered somewhat controversial as Lindros was chosen over longer-tenured NHL captains such as Steve Yzerman, Ray Bourque and Wayne Gretzky, Clarke was also General Manager of the Philadelphia Flyers whom Lindros played for professionally. In 2000, when the relationship between Clarke and Lindros deteriorated during contentious contract negotiations and the team's handling of Lindros' injuries, the team captaincy was handed over to Eric Desjardins.[5] Tampa Bay Lightning head coach John Tortorella stripped the captaincy from Vincent Lecavalier for failing to meet on-ice performance expectations. In 1980, Darryl Sittler angrily resigned the captaincy by cutting off the "C" from his jersey with scissors, in protest of Harold Ballard's trade of his best friend Lanny McDonald,[6] Ballard would liken Sittler's actions to burning the Canadian flag.[7]