Keepers of the Cup

The Traverse City Open Space has hosted many celebrities, primarily rock, country and pop stars. But this Monday, Sept. 1, it will play host to its biggest name to date: Lord Stanley’s Cup.
On tour this summer with the Detroit Red Wings, The Stanley Cup has been traveling the world and drawing crowds from 3,000 to 30,000.
Thanks to Northern Michigan resident and Stanley Cup Champion Dallas Drake, the “Holy Grail” of hockey and by far the most famous trophy in the sporting world will be in Traverse City on Labor Day.
The public will have two opportunities to see and get pictures with The Cup on September 1. In the morning a private photo session with Dallas Drake and The Cup is available for the first 80 families or business that sign up. For $250, participants will receive an autographed 16“ x 20“ photo and CD for photo reprints. The second opportunity will take place from noon to 5 p.m. at the Open Space. The afternoon event is open to the public and there is no admission fee.



RARE OPPORTUNITY
Drake has already had his turn with The Stanley Cup, taking it to his childhood hometown of Rossland,
British Columbia in July, where his parents have a dairy farm. Players, coaches and team executives each get 24 hours with The Cup. But Drake, who during his 16 years in the NHL was one of the league’s toughest players on the ice, was also one of the nicest guys off the ice; so the NHL afforded him a rare second opportunity with the cup.
“I wanted to do something with it in Traverse City,” said Drake, who has lived in the area for eight years. “I called Kerry Russell and asked him if there was anything we could do to help youth hockey in the area.”
Kerry Russell, a coach and a board member with the Grand Traverse Hockey Association (GTHA), knew exactly what needed to be done.
“Since I joined the board a few years back, we have went from over 800 players in the program to 600. A big part of the decline in participation is that hockey is expensive, especially the equipment. I saw this as a perfect fundraiser,” said Russell. “So Dallas bringing the Stanley Cup here is going to go a long way in us creating our GTHA New Skater Fund, to benefit those who are interested in hockey but money has been their barrier.”

POST-WINGS
Drake, who spent 15 years in the NHL playing for the Red Wings, Winnipeg, Phoenix and Saint Louis, retired in July and immediately became involved in GTHA.
“I do live here, so I thought this was one of the ways I could give a little back to the community,” said Drake. “When I retired, I decided to dive head-first into GTHA, and I couldn’t think of a better way to kick it off than by bringing hockey’s biggest prize to downtown Traverse City.”
But Drake has no intentions of being a one-hit wonder. Not only is he coaching his daughter’s travel hockey team and helping to coach his son’s travel team, Drake plans to offer his own ice expertise to others in the future.
“There are a lot of hockey camps that come through the area already. So this summer I wanted to take it a little bit easy and assess the situation here,” said Drake. “Ultimately, I would like to host some camps and clinics here. Not for a profit, but to benefit the kids in the area.”
It is that kind of attitude and commitment that made Drake a popular guy around the NHL.
“Dallas, during his tenure in the NHL, was one of the most respected players, both on and off the ice. Guys like having him around because he is a leader, a hard worker and a physical player,” said Ken Holland. “We brought him back to Detroit because of those qualities and it paid off for us. I know Dallas could play for a couple more years, but he is such a family man and that is another thing we all respect him for. So it doesn’t surprise me that he is jumping in, coaching his kids and giving back to Traverse City.”

FIRST IN LINE
Drake’s respect from his teammates was showcased after the Red Wings won game six of the Stanley Cup Championship, and team captain Nicklas Lindstrom handed the Cup off first to Drake. Lindstrom, as team captain, knew he would be presented the Cup if they won and decided early in the first round that he would hand the Cup first to Dallas Drake.
“It caught me off guard when he handed it to me first,” said Drake, whose picture of him holding the Cup over his head was on the front of sports sections around the world. “It meant a lot to me. We all work for this, and as my career was nearing its end, I never thought I was going to have a chance to hoist the Cup and have my name on it.”
For Drake, as training camp approaches, he hasn’t felt that internal pull to return to the game he grew up playing.
“Really I have not. Typically I would skate three days a week in the summer to train and I have hardly skated at all. Mentally I am still ready, but physically I just don’t recover as quickly as I used to,” said Drake. “I am sure when training camp gets here and I see the guys, I will feel that pull, but I am ready for a new chapter in my life, so I know I made the right decision.”
In college Drake was goal scorer. He attended Northern Michigan University and led the Wildcats to a NCAA Championship his senior year in 1992, scoring 39 goals along with 44 assists. He changed roles when he entered his rookie season in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings, building his career around tough play, aggressive skating and leadership on the ice and in the locker-room. He finished his career with 177 goals and 300 assists and a Stanley Cup Championship.

NO CHARGE
As for the Stanley Cup appearance in Traverse City, both Drake and Russell did not want money to be a barrier for anyone.
“There is no charge to come down to the Open Space to see the Cup,” said Russell. This is a fundraiser, so those that are able to, we ask for donations. Plus, there will be a lot of other things going on at the Open Space. The U&I will have gyros and there will be additional refreshments. Plus we will have an event t-shirt for sale, raffle items and a silent auction. We have some real cool memorabilia lined up including a Lindstrom autographed game jersey.”
Dallas Drake also procured several items from his former employer and teammates.
“The Red Wings organization was very generous and sent a lot of things,” said Drake. “We will have autographed jerseys and sticks. Plus we have some hockey-related activities for the kids. It is going to be a very special day in Traverse City.”
Both Drake and Russell want to emphasize that this is not going to be a “one-time effort.”
“We’d like to get kids going in the sport of hockey at a young age, and not all of them can,” said Drake. “Our plan is to keep this fundraising going so that we can continue to help kids get involved for years down the road.”

The Stanley Cup will visit Traverse City, Labor Day (September 1). In the morning a special limited edition photo shoot with the Cup will take place as a major fundraiser for the GTHA New Skater Fund. The cost is $250.00. At noon the Stanley Cup will arrive at the Open Space for a free to the public event until 5 p.m. For additional information check out stanleybythebay.com.


The Story of the Stanley Cup
Hockey’s greatest trophy is always on the go

By Rick Coates

When the Stanley Cup takes center stage on Labor Day in Traverse City, it will bring with it 115 years of hockey history. If only the Cup could speak, imagine the stories it could tell.
As sport’s most famous and oldest trophy, it also possesses a unique tradition. Every player -- along with the coaches, team brass and owners -- gets to have the Cup for 24 hours to do virtually whatever they would like with it.
Over the years, the tales have been legendary. When the Red Wings last won the Cup in 2002, Darren McCarthy received permission to strap the Cup on the back of his motorcycle and drive it around town, a Stanley Cup first.
When the Stanley Cup comes to town, it will be escorted by “the Keeper of the Cup.” The Stanley Cup is cared for and maintained by the NHL Hall of Fame in Toronto. There are four gentlemen who are known as “Keepers of the Cup.” Most famous are Walt Nuebrand and Phil Pritchard, who have appeared in television commercials with the cup. Nuebrand takes the summers off to travel with the Cup, as he is a school teacher. Pritchard, who works for the Hockey Hall of Fame as curator, takes some of the travel duties, including bringing the Cup to the Stanley Cup Championship games. The other two “keepers” fill in when Pritchard and Neubrand are unavailable.

ON THE ROAD
The Cup travels about 250 days a year. The Stanley Cup that will be at the Open Space is the official trophy and has the NHL seal stamped on the bottom. A duplicate trophy stays in a case permanently on display at the Hall of Fame. It was crafted in Sheffield, England and purchased for about $49 in 1892.
During the past five years the Stanley Cup has earned 400,000 frequent flyer miles and has helped to raise more than $6 million for charity.
It takes 13 years to fill a ring around the bottom of the Cup, as players, management and ownership get their names engraved on the base. When a ring is filled, another one is added to the bottom and a top ring is removed and retired to the Hall of Fame. This is the only championship trophy in professional sports that engraves the players names on it.
While there have yet to be any female players on a Stanley Cup championship team, there are women with their names on the Cup. The first was Marguerite Norris in 1955, who was president of the Detroit Red Wings. Current co-owner of the Red Wings Marian Illitch, along with family members Lisa and Denise Illitch, also have their names on the Stanley Cup.

WHOOPS...
The Stanley Cup is not free of misspellings. Adam Deadmarsh was spelled “Deadmarch” and it was later corrected, making his the only misspelling corrected. Besides misspelled last names, the New York Islanders are spelled “Ilanders” and the 1972 champion Boston Bruins are spelled “Bqstqn.”
As for traveling this summer, the Stanley Cup has been busy.
“I took the Cup to Rossland, British Columbia where I grew up and where my parents still live,” said Drake. “I ate Shreddies (a breakfast cereal sold in Canada) out of it. We had some quiet time with it on my parents’ dairy farm and there were some public events as well.”
The Stanley Cup’s appearance this weekend isn’t its first visit this summer to Northern Michigan. Darren McCarty flew it to Harbor Springs to Teddy Griffin’s Roadhouse in June where he met up with fellow teammate Kris Draper and a small group of friends. They partied with the Cup until closing and Draper then took the Cup back to his hotel room and fed his kids Fruit Loops from it the next morning.
The summer has not been without controversy for the cup. Just after winning the Cup, Red Wing Players took it to Chelio’s Chili Bar owned by Chris Chelios. As players were drinking beer from the Cup, it was dropped and dented.
“I felt so bad for Chelios because he is someone who has so much respect for the game and this trophy. He felt terrible about it,” said Walt Neubrand, Keeper of the Cup. “But we were able to smooth out the dent and all is good. It is just one more legendary thing to add to the history.”

PARTY TIME
Chelios (the visit to his bar did not count as his turn) got the trophy a month later and took it to Kid Rock’s Malibu mansion (Chelios lives in Malibu during the off season) for a party that included several stars: hockey legend Wayne Gretzky with his wife Janet, newly-elected Hall of Fame member Igor Larionov, Red Wings teammates Dan Cleary, Jiri Hudler and Darren McCarty, tennis player Jennifer Capriati, surfer Laird Hamilton and professional volleyball star Gabrielle Reece. From Hollywood, the party included Cuba Gooding Jr., Ray Liotta, John C. McGinley, Jeremy Piven, David Spade, D.B. Sweeney, Tom Hanks and Sylvester Stallone, who all got their pictures taken with the Cup.
Other interesting tidbits from the Stanley Cup’s travels this summer include Tomas Holmstrom’s nephew being baptized in the Cup. And Kris Draper’s new-born daughter pooped in the Cup. “I cleaned it and drank beer from it later that night,” said Draper.
Coach Mike Babcock took the Cup to his summer home in Canada on Emma Lake. The Cup went boating with Babcock and his family. Babcock decided to keep a promise that he had made to himself if he were to ever win the cup.

A SERENADE
“A few years ago I heard the faint sounds of a bagpipe coming across the lake, and I said to myself, if I ever win the Cup I am going to find that bagpiper and have him play for the Cup,” said Babcock. “Well, every summer since, I would hear the piper but couldn’t figure out where he was coming from. Then earlier this summer I was pulling my son waterskiing and I heard the pipes again. This time I found the cottage and it turned out to be a 15-year-old. So when it was my turn with the Cup, I had him over to serenade the Cup.”
In early August the Stanley Cup went to Sweden to catch up with the Red Wings’ Swedish contingent. The largest crowd to see the Stanley Cup (not including the team celebrations in Detroit) was 30,000 in Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, home of Dan Cleary. The town population is 3,000, but hockey fans drove hundreds of miles to get a glimpse.
Organizers are unsure of how many will flock to the Open Space this weekend to see the Stanley Cup. Some are predicting in the thousands; after all, this is Hockeytown North and the second home of the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings. For additional details on the Cup check out hhof.com, and for information on the Septemember 1 visit of the Stanley Cup to Traverse City, go to stanleybythebay.com.

(Information for this article was supplied courtesy of the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Canada) View On Our Website