The Stanley Cup Engravings Are More Meaningful Than NHL Fans May Think

Which team will claim the 2022 Stanley Cup?

That's the million-dollar question NHL fans are asking themselves every day. Although the Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers are currently the favorites to hoist the trophy over the heads at the end of the playoffs, we can't rule out other teams.

We could write all about the NHL playoff standings, but we decided to take things in a different, more educational direction.

Rather than reporting about all the fans screaming and yelling at their TVs because their team is playing poorly, we wanted to write about the actual prize. Here's everything we know about the Stanley Cup, including what's written on it, what it's made of, and why it's called the Stanley Cup.

Each year, the team that wins the Stanley Cup has the opportunity to engrave the names of players, coaches, management, and club staff on the trophy. The NHL's modern Cup was designed with a five-band barrel, allowing it to contain 13 winning teams per band; every 13 years, "the top band is removed and retired to be displayed in the vault of the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto."

According to the Hockey Hall of Fame, the first team to ever engrave its roster was the 1906-07 Montreal Wanderers; however, the annual tradition didn't kickstart until 1924, when the Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup Finals.

As of today, the total number of individuals engraved on the cup is 2,394. On the other hand, the total number of individuals engraved on the cup (including retired bands) is 3,385. Well, that number is only going to increase as the years go on!

The Hockey Hall of Fame also noted that there have only been "four official engravers of the Stanley Cup." The first engravers consisted of two generations of the Petersen family: Carl Poul and Arno Petersen. The pair had assistance from Fred Light Sr.

Doug Boffey, the owner of Boffey Silversmiths of Montreal, succeeded the trio. Today, the current engraver is Louise St. Jacques, "who took over Boffey's engraving business and left the legacy of the shop's name in place."

Although the original was made entirely of silver and stood at 7.28 inches, the current Stanley Cup is made of silver and nickel alloy with a height of 35.25 inches and weighs approximately 37 pounds, per the Hockey Hall of Fame.

With a name like the Stanley Cup, one could only hope there's an iconic origin story; luckily, there is. In March 2017, the NHL reported on the famed trophy's history; in 1892, Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley, Lord Stanley of Preston, purchased it for $50.

After buying the original bowl-shaped award, Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley planned to present it to "the champion hockey team in the Dominion of Canada." Therefore, the name honors him and serves as a "reminder of his time as Canada's governor general."