If Stanley Cup Could Talk -- Popular Trophy Has Wild Time Among Nhl Players, Fans

If trophies could talk - no, check, that - if trophies could write, that would be interesting.

"How I Spent My Summer Vacation," by L. Stanley Cup. As told to Scotty Morrison.

No, check that. Perhaps it would be better if Morrison, president of the Hockey Hall of Fame, did not know exactly what the National Hockey League's most revered piece of hardware is doing this summer. Or, what it has done.

The Cup's "vacation" only officially just began, but already it has been to the White House, Mario Lemieux's house, Craig Patrick's house and the building that houses the Buffalo Sabres.

That much is certain. This much is not. Did it also make a visit to the bottom of Lemieux's pool, escorted by a belly-flopping left winger? Those who say, don't know; those who know, won't say. If trophies could talk . . .

The Pittsburgh Penguins won the first Stanley Cup in their history May 25 and, with it, won the right to carry on one of the oldest and oddest traditions in sports. They earned the privilege of hanging out with a silver trophy that is fast approaching its 100th birthday.

The Penguins have until July 15 to spend quality time with the trophy they worked so hard to win. After that, it must return to its perch in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, where it spends most of the year as that building's main attraction.

The trophy is "hockey's holy grail," according to Morrison and the way people are attracted to it and players embrace it, it is difficult to argue with that description. At the same time, it is a trophy insured in excess of $70,000 and worth considerably more than that, given its history and unique status in the sports world.

"There's not a value you can place on it," said Morrison.

Which makes the tradition of letting the players and coaches interact with it a bit strange, if not downright dangerous.

"It's a delicate piece," said Doug Boffey of Montreal, who every year stamps the names of the winning team's players, coaches and executives on the base of the Cup. "And these are strong people. Often, they don't realize their own strength."

"People from museums and other sports halls of fame are absolutely astounded that we let it out in the manner we do," said Morrison. The NHL owns the Stanley Cup and the Hockey Hall of Fame serves as its official caretaker.

Placing the Cup on a pedestal behind a glass case would solve problems, but would create some, too. Part of the Cup's charm is its accessibility.

No awards ceremony in sports is quite like the NHL's, which features players from the winning team skating around while holding the Cup over their heads. Even people who had nothing to do with winning it and who do not even care about the team that did, love the Cup. Put it on display somewhere and people will come from far and wide to get their pictures taken standing next to it. Or hugging it.

"Clearly it's a populist Cup," said John Halligan, who is in charge of publicity for the trophy's 100th birthday in 1993. "It's not the crown jewels."

Nor has it ever been treated as such. Hockey is rife with stories of the Cup being left on street corners, used as flower pots and, once, even drop-kicked into the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, Canada.

"I'm not too sure if all that happened," said Morrison. "A lot of it is myth."

It is hard to separate fact from fiction when the Cup goes on holiday. Consider, for instance, what has happened to it just since the Penguins won it May 25:

May 26 - The Penguins brought the Cup home with them from Minnesota in order to have it for their victory rally, May 28. It was quickly hustled to goalie Tom Barrasso's house, where the team went by bus while waiting for the crowd at the airport to disperse.

During the celebration at the Barrasso's, the Cup was placed on the front lawn, which was where assistant coach Rick Paterson saw it as he was about to leave. "So I ended up taking it," said Paterson, who gave the Cup its first public display locally at a nearby Eat 'N Park restaurant on his way home.

He then took it home, got a few hours sleep and put it out on his front lawn. Word spread quickly and within hours, hundreds of people had flocked to his home to touch it and get their pictures taken with it.

That night, he and trainer Skip Thayer escorted it to a restaurant. "It wasn't in there for 15 minutes and the place got so crowded you couldn't move," said Paterson.

May 27 - Memorial Day. Thayer took it to his home and, having heard Paterson's story, decided to put it on his front lawn. Thayer estimated the Cup attracted 1,000 people to Thayer's home that day as well as a helpful local policeman who handled traffic and guarded the Cup. "I told everybody it had to leave at 5 p.m.," said Thayer, "and at 5, everybody disappeared."

That night, the Cup went on a Three Rivers boat cruise that was part of a private team party. After the cruise, the Cup went to Lemieux's house for a players' party, which is where things get extremely hazy. For the record, no Penguin will admit it actually went in the pool. "It was near the pool and it just got splashed with all the people jumping in," said defenseman Peter Taglianetti, trying not to sound too defensive.

May 28 - The Cup went to a rally, looking somewhat worn after its night of revelry. After the rally and a luncheon at the Civic Arena, general manager Craig Patrick decided to take it home. Not for sentimental reasons, mind you, but security reasons.

"I felt more comfortable having it at home than leaving it here (in his Civic Arena office)," said Patrick. "But when my kids saw it, they called their friends over to see it."

May 29-June 23 - The Cup was sent back to league headquarters where it was shipped to Montreal for engraving (June 7-13), back to the Hall of Fame and then on to Buffalo, where it was on display at the Memorial Auditorium during the league meetings and 1991 Entry Draft the week of June 17.

June 24 - The official start of the Penguins' "time" with the Cup began. First stop, Washington, D.C., and a Rose Garden ceremony with President Bush.

Carrying the Cup to the ceremony was equipment manager Steve Latin. "I'm the official carrier," he said. Such an awesome responsibility lays heavily on a man's mind and it did with Latin. "I get nervous and I don't want to forget anything."

After the ceremony ended, the Penguins were given a tour, but Latin did not want to carry the cumbersome Cup with him. But he also did not want to just leave it in the Rose Garden, where who knew what would happen to it?

"So, I asked a Secret Service guy, "Will it (the Cup) be safe here?' And he said to me, `See that man in the Oval Office. If he's not safe here, nobody's safe here."'

After the ceremony, the Cup flew back to Pittsburgh for a day and spent the night at the Barrasso's.

June 25 - The first Penguins' player request was granted. The Cup was flown (inside its carrying case, complete with four locks) to Toronto, where it served as centerpiece at a golf tournament played host to by Paul Coffey. The tournament raised money for a children's hospital.

June 28 - The Cup returned to Pittsburgh in time for the preview screening of the team's highlight video at the Sports Garden.

Where it goes from here is up to Craig Patrick. Several players have put in requests for it, but given the limited time the team has with the trophy, not all requests can be granted.

A request likely to be fulfilled is one from Taglianetti who wants to use it in a fundraiser for youth hockey in his hometown of Framingham, Mass. He hopes to raise money by charging people to get their pictures taken with it.

That's exactly the kind of venture the NHL likes to encourage, but a lot of players prefer the old tradition of just getting the Cup to have around the house for a day and do with as they wish.

"The Cup can't be endlessly manhandled," said Morrison. "It can't go from house, to house, to cottage, to whatever. You want the public exposed to it and the players exposed to it, yet it is very delicate. I do not like to sound pessimistic about this, but there is a fine line here. It can't get out of hand.

"The team winning it does not necessarily have the right to have it in every player's home or at every big barbecue."

That's funny because the Cup was scheduled for a mandatory appearance at a barbecue in Aliquippa, Pa. "If it's not there, I'm dead," said Latin, who has relatives coming in from Michigan and Florida for a family get-together with the trophy.

"I want my family to enjoy it with me," he said. "Not everybody gets a chance to touch the Cup. I thought this would be a nice time to share this with the family. The grown-ups can drink champagne from it and the kids can have pop."

Sounds like a reasonable request and Latin certainly worked hard enough to earn it. Then again, so did a lot of other Penguins. Players and coaches and team officials have requested time between now and July 15 and it is up to Patrick to determine who gets it and when. Some will no doubt miss out.

The problem could be lessened if the NHL made a duplicate Cup that teams could have for indefinite periods and would be available for fundraising events all year.

"I think we're going to make a duplicate," said Morrison. "It would be an exact replica. Although, part of the charisma of the Cup is the fact that this is the original Cup; that there is no duplicate anywhere."

Patrick wants to be certain that between now and Saturday, time is reserved for the fans of Pittsburgh to see the Cup, too. "We're working on that," he said.

His work would be eased if the Hall of Fame would extend its deadline, but that is unlikely. July and August are the Hall's biggest months and the Cup is its biggest attraction. Already, the Hall has had several visitors this summer who drove up from Pittsburgh to see it, only to learn - much to their dismay - that it was elsewhere.

"People just want to touch the Cup," said Paterson. "It's almost like it has a personality."