Florida Panthers Dent & Crack Stanley Cup While Celebrating Winning Title

From winning back-to-back titles to denting and cracking the trophy, the Florida Panthers banged up the Stanley Cup while celebrating their latest championship.

The bowl of the famous trophy is cracked and the bottom is dented. Not for the first time and likely not the last time.

The Panthers won their second consecutive championship on home ice Tuesday night, beating Edmonton in six games. The team, following decades of tradition, partied with the Cup into the wee hours and kept the revelry going in Fort Lauderdale well into Wednesday afternoon.

A spokesperson for the Hockey Hall of Fame said the keepers of the Cup are taking the appropriate steps and plan to have it repaired by the celebration parade on Sunday. Made of silver and a nickel alloy, the 37-pound Cup is relatively malleable.

Damage is nothing new for the 131-year-old Cup that has been submerged in pools and the Atlantic Ocean and mishandled by players, coaches and staff for more than a century.

The Montreal Canadiens left the trophy on the side of the road after winning it in 1924. The story goes that a car carrying some of the team had stalled going up a hill, meaning players had to get out to push. It wasn’t until they reached the top that they realized they had left one of the most famous trophies in the world behind.

Following the Detroit Red Wings’ success in 2008, Kris Draper celebrated by putting his baby daughter in the Cup for a photo. Only she left behind a little surprise … by using the legendary trophy as a toilet.

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Josh Archibald got creative with his celebrations, using his time with the Cup to baptize his son. Three-week-old Brecken was photographed receiving his blessing while sitting in the bowl at the top of the trophy.

Just this decade alone, the Tampa Bay Lightning dropped the Cup during their boat parade in 2021 and the Colorado Avalanche dented it on the ice the night they won the following year.