The Stanley Cup
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The Stanley Cup is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff winner after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Originally commissioned in 1892 as the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, the trophy is named for Lord Stanley of Preston, then–Governor General of Canada, who awarded it to Canada’s top-ranking amateur ice hockey club, which the entire Stanley family supported, with the sons and daughters playing and promoting the game.
The first Cup was awarded to Montreal HC in 1893. After a series of league mergers and folds over the next couple of decades, the Stanley “Presentation Cup” was established as the de facto championship trophy of the NHL in 1926 and then the de jure NHL championship prize in 1947.
