Quebec’s Nicolas Aubé-Kubel won the first Stanley Cup of his career on Sunday while also pulling off another less glorious feat of arms by becoming the player to damage the Holy Grail fastest in hockey.
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The Sorelois of the Avalanche put the trophy on the ice for the traditional team photo when he slipped and hit the bottom of the trophy as he fell on the ice at Amalie Arena in Tampa.
The damage is minor – a minor lower-body injury in hockey terms – but the images here show the underside of the 34.5lb trophy isn’t as round as it used to be.
Screenshot from the NHL’s Twitter account
“I think it’s a record! Cup winner Phil Pritchard competed in a video posted to Twitter during the celebrations. Only five minutes had passed in the presentations and this is happening. It’s the first time it’s happened on the ice. There’s already a bump underneath. »
Screenshot from the NHL’s Twitter account
Less bad than the Lightning
Judging by his crooked smile, the cupkeeper, the blond-haired, white-gloved man who’s been bringing the precious trophy to the rink for years, didn’t seem too sorry.
After all, Mr. Pritchard had far worse things to do last year. During the Lightning’s very, very, very celebratory parade down the Hillsborough River, forward Pat Maroon dropped the cup, the top shell of which was dented.
Maroon later denied disregarding the hockey supremacy emblem, stating that the trophy was wet and slipped from his hands when he tried to lift it.
Ironically, the Stanley Cup had been shipped to Montreal for repairs just weeks after Canadiens fans saw the trophy slip from the Lightning.
Photo from Twitter account @JOESMITHTBto
Last year, Lightning’s Pat Maroon damaged the Stanley Cup when he tried to lift it while it was wet.
Back in Montreal?
It was not clear on Monday whether the coveted item would have to be sent back to Montreal, to this repair shop that the league apparently wants to keep secret.
However, Mr Pritchard said he would be speaking to the organization in Colorado “soon”.
“We’ll see how it gets fixed,” he explained. But this summer there will actually be a tour for the cup. »
The Stanley Cup has had its share of minor and major injuries throughout its centuries-old history.
It was thrown into a fire by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1962 and then into a swimming pool at Mario Lemieux in 1991 during the Pittsburgh Penguins’ first conquest.
Also, the trophy doesn’t float. Guy Carbonneau had to learn that the hard way two years later when he celebrated the Canadian’s last trophy for a long time.
Photo from Instagram account @alex_anne___
Nicolas Aubé-Kubel posed alongside his sister Alex-Anne in the company of a bumpy Stanley Cup Sunday at Tampa’s Amalie Arena. The young woman is also wearing a jacket in the colors of the Nordics.
With a wrench
It was also repaired 20 years ago by the future mayor of Hearst, Ontario, with the tools at hand — an adjustable wrench and a rag — Radio-Canada recently reported.
The trophy (obviously quite fragile) had been dented after being dropped by Claude Larose onto the ice of the recreation center that was to bear his name.
Roger Sigouin, then a city councilor, but also a trained coachbuilder, offered to restore the ice hockey icon. Which he would have managed to do in the utmost secrecy since the story was only recently revealed.