June 28, 2022

Quebecer Nicolas Aubé-Kubel won the first Stanley Cup of his career on Sunday and, at the same time, he achieved another less glorious feat of arms by becoming the player who damaged the Holy Grail the fastest hockey.

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The Sorelois of the Avalanche was bringing the trophy for the traditional team photo on the ice when he slipped, hitting the bottom of the cup on the ice of the Amalie Arena in Tampa in his fall.

The damage is light – a minor injury to the lower body, in hockey terms – but the images here show that the underside of the trophy, which weighs 34.5 lbs, is no longer as rounded as it was. the habit.

“I think it’s a record! kicked off cup keeper Phil Pritchard in a video posted on Twitter during the festivities. There were only five minutes elapsed in the presentations and this is happening. It’s the first time it’s happened on the ice. There is already a bump in the bottom. »

Less worse than the Lightning

Judging by his crooked smile, the cup keeper, the man with blond hair and white gloves who has been bringing the precious trophy to the rink for years, did not seem too sorry for the turn of events. events.

After all, Mr. Pritchard had far worse last year. During the very, very, very celebratory parade of the Lightning on the Hillsborough River, forward Pat Maroon dropped the cup, the upper bowl of which was dented.

Maroon later denied having disrespected the emblem of hockey supremacy, stating that the trophy was wet and that it had slipped from his hands when he tried to lift it.

Ironically, the Stanley Cup had been sent to Montreal for repairs, just weeks following Canadiens fans saw the trophy slip away from the Lightning.

Back in Montreal?

Monday, it was not yet clear if the coveted object will once more have to be sent to Montreal, to this repair shop which seems to want to be kept secret by the League.

But Mr Pritchard said he would talk to the Colorado organization “soon”.

“We will see how it will be repaired, he explained. But there will indeed be a tour of the cup this summer. »

The Stanley Cup has had its share of minor and major injuries during its century-old history.

It was thrown into the fire by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1962, then into a swimming pool at Mario Lemieux, in 1991, during the first conquest of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Besides, the trophy does not float. Guy Carbonneau also learned it the hard way two years later, when he was celebrating what was to be the Canadian’s last cup for a very long time.

With a wrench

It was also repaired by means at hand – an adjustable wrench and a rag – by the future mayor of Hearst, Ontario, 20 years ago, Radio-Canada reported recently.

The trophy (rather fragile, obviously) had been dented following being dropped by Claude Larose on the ice of the recreation center that would bear his name.

Then a municipal councilor, but also a body repairer by trade, Roger Sigouin offered to refurbish the hockey icon. What he would have succeeded in the greatest secrecy, since the story was revealed only recently.