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Roundup: Media's Take

Why There's Still a Chance for a Stanley Cup Championship This Season

Anil Adyanthaya, in the NYT (2-18-05):

[Anil Adyanthaya is a lawyer.]

THE National Hockey League took a giant step on its inexorable march toward oblivion this week. Still, while Commissioner Gary Bettman has canceled the current season because of a labor dispute, there is hope for hockey's future. It is in the hands of the trustees who control the Stanley Cup, the oldest and most prestigious trophy in North American sports.

The trustees, Brian O'Neill and Ian Morrison, have "absolute power over all matters regarding the Stanley Cup," according to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. They should invoke that power and award the Cup to this year's champion of the American Hockey League, which is the best league in North America now that the N.H.L. is gone for the year.

By awarding the Cup to the A.H.L. champion, the trustees can preserve the Cup's pre-eminence by demonstrating that athletic achievement, not financial success, remains the sport's holy grail. This can only help to restore the N.H.L.'s legitimacy if and when it resumes play.

Contrary to what many may assume, the Stanley Cup is not a creation of the N.H.L. The Cup was first awarded in 1893, while the N.H.L. did not play its first game until 1917. Lord Stanley, who was then the governor general of Canada, donated the Cup to further the sport of hockey in Canada. In bestowing the Cup, Lord Stanley wrote:

"There does not appear to be any such outward sign of a championship at present, and considering the general interest which matches now elicit, and the importance of having the game played fairly and under rules generally recognized, I am willing to give a cup which shall be held from year to year by the winning team." Lord Stanley, who returned to England before the first Cup was awarded, appointed trustees to oversee the trophy....

So, Mr. O'Neill and Mr. Morrison, how about it? Granted, the A.H.L. champion already gets something called the Calder Cup, but surely no hockey team on earth would pass up the opportunity to play for the Stanley Cup. By awarding it this year, the trustees can show that hockey has a prize larger than any league. What other sport can say that?