ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The Stanley Cup is returning to St. Louis Friday, but it will look a little different than the last time it was here.
On the bottom ring, the Cup now has St. Louis Blues 2018-19 engraved into it, along with the names of the players, coaches, trainers and team chairman Tom Stillman.
"Traditionally, over time, the teams can fit up to 52 names," says Keeper of the Cup Phil Pritchard. "That is, obviously, the players, the coaching staff, the management side, the equipment guys, the trainers. They are all just as important to the team as the guys on the ice."
Beautiful! #StanleyCupChampions @StLouisBlues pic.twitter.com/p7kXdu6TKZ
— Brian Kelly (@Brpkelly)
September 16, 2019 The key question. Did they spell at the names right?
"It's always one of the first questions," says Pritchard. "They all look great on there. They're part of hockey history now and they join that union as Stanley Cup Champion."
Pritchard says for the players and the others, seeing their names on the sport's holy grail, is another great moment in a summer of great moments.
"Through
social media they've had a chance to see the photo. But, I think it's even another level when they actually see it live and in person. And, if their family is there, or their parents or their best friend or what have you, I think that even takes it one more step into the 'wow factor.'"
Seeing his name engraved on the #StanleyCup is a moment Tom Stillman will never forget. pic.twitter.com/noeUPuZF8y
— St. Louis Blues -- (@StLouisBlues)
September 19, 2019 The Blues are the second team on the lowest ring of the Cup, along with the 2017-18 champion Washington Capitals. That means their names will remain on the Cup for 64 years as the ring is moved up the Cup as more teams win it. After that, that ring will be removed from the Cup and placed in Lord Stanley's Vault at the Hockey Hall of Fame, which is in a former bank building in Toronto.
"It's a tribute to the person who donated the Cup, the early teams, the Stanley Cup rings the guys get, the bands that have been removed," Pritchard says. "It's an actual vault that you can walk inside."
But first, the Blues players and fans are looking forward to seeing the team's name on the Cup. Pritchard says except for a couple of short trips, it will remain in St. Louis until the Blues open the season on October 2nd.
The Blues are in Winnipeg on Friday to take on the Jets for its third game of the preseason, then will play at Enterprise Center on Sunday for the first time since winning Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in Boston.
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