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Lord Stanley's Cup visits Kingdom

TIM CURRAN
THE MID-COUNTY MEMO

Because of a decades long friendship, the fan friendliest trophy in major professional sports, Lord Stanley's Cup - awarded to the National Hockey League's champion since 1926 - made a special stop in Mid-county last month
Mid-county Memo photos/Tim Curran
Lifelong hockey fans and players Dean, from left, Todd and Tom Gauthier enjoy a special moment with the Stanley Cup thanks to family friend Tom McVie.
During its special visit to east Portland last month, Carpet Kingdom owner Dean Gauthier hoists hockey's Holy Grail over his head.
“Dominion Challenge Cup” it says on one side of the chalice and “From Stanley of Preston,” on the other. The 1916 Portland Rosebuds, champions of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association were the fist American team to challenge for the cup. Despite not being official winners, their PCHA championship got their name engraved on it.
Here's a close-up view of the engraving on the five bands around the barrel of the Stanley Cup. Each band has the names of 13 teams. When it fills, it is moved up and the top band goes to the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Thanks to Argay resident Tom Gauthier's 40-year friendship with Boston Bruins' Western Region Advance Scout Tom McVie, a lucky few east Portlanders got an up-close and personal look at the Stanley Cup last month at Gauthier's Gateway business, the Carpet Kingdom, when McVie brought the iconic trophy by for a special stop between public appearances in Portland and Vancouver.

Their friendship goes back to the mid-60s, when Gauthier's Winnipeg, Manitoba boyhood friend and long-time hockey opponent Bill Saunders, a Portland Buckaroo at the time, introduced Gauthier to teammate McVie.

Gauthier, who owned and managed a junior hockey league team in Winnipeg after an injury ended his playing days forever, had recently moved to Portland with his young family.

After the Buckaroos folded in 1974, Portland was without hockey until the Portland Winterhawks were created in 1977. Gauthier, who had started his carpet and flooring business in Portland, accepted a management position with Portland's new hockey club, and then went on to become a Western Hockey League executive for 15 years and was part owner of the Seattle Breakers. Gauthier also coached his son Dean's junior hockey teams to two national finals. Dean Gauthier went on to win two state hockey championships during his playing days at Parkrose High School in the eighties.

For Canadians and hockey fans who have ice running through their veins, like Tom and Dean Gauthier, this was a very special moment. “It's quite an honor to have the Cup here,” said Tom Gauthier. “I think it's a once in a lifetime thing. Most people never even have an opportunity to see it. For McVie to take the time to bring it by here … That's Tom McVie, he is that kind of guy.”

It being a perpetual trophy, the Stanley Cup winner has it for 100 days only during the off-season. In a tradition that sets the winner of hockey's highest honor apart - and instead of being ensconced in glass case at team headquarters for 100 days - the 1994 New York Rangers gave the cup to every player, coach and person in team management for 24 hours to do anything (almost anything as it is always accompanied by a representative from the Hockey Hall of Fame) they want with it. Victors of the Cup have used it to baptize their children, feed their dogs, and of course, in the tradition that began in the 19th century, drink champagne from it. Also unique, it has the names of all winning players, coaches, management, and team staff engraved on its chalice.

McVie hoisted the Cup for the first time in a 55-year playing and coaching career this year after the Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks in seven games. McVie, originally from Trail, British Columbia played in the Western Hockey League for 15 seasons including six for the Buckaroos and had two head coaching stints in the NHL.

“Portland and Vancouver (Washington where he and his family have lived for the last 20 years) have been very good to me,” McVie said while at the Carpet Kingdom. “Harry Glickman (Portland Buckaroos and Trailblazer owner) and George Rickles (Buckaroos business manager who passed away in 2010) did so much for me and my family while I was here in Portland; I just wanted to share it with all the people in Portland and Vancouver.” Asked why he made the detour between public appearances to visit Gauthier he said, with a sardonic smile - keeping in mind insults are the language of intimacy among males - “You don't say no to Tom Gauthier; he's such a pain in the ass.” This is real friendship. To see more photos of the Stanley Cup's visit to the Carpet Kingdom visit farcebook.com/midcountymemo.

Stanley Cup facts from Wikipedia
After Queen Victoria appointed Lord Stanley of Preston Governor General of Canada on June 11, 1888, he and his family became highly enthusiastic about ice hockey. Stanley was first exposed to the game at Montreal's 1889 Winter Carnival, where he saw the Montreal Victorias play the Montreal Hockey Club. During that time, organized ice hockey in Canada was still in its infancy and only Montreal and Ottawa had anything resembling leagues.

Stanley's entire family became active in ice hockey. Two of his sons, Arthur and Algernon, formed a new team called the Ottawa Rideau Hall Rebels. Arthur also played a key role in the formation of what later became known as the Ontario Hockey Association, and would go on to be the founder of ice hockey in Great Britain. Arthur and Algernon persuaded their father to donate a trophy to be “an outward and visible sign of the hockey championship”.

Soon afterwards, Stanley purchased a decorative punch bowl, made in Sheffield, England, and sold by London silversmith G. R. Collis and Company (now Boodle and Dunthorne Jewellers), for 10guineas, equal to 10 1/2 pounds sterling, ($48.67), which is equal to $1,186 today. He had the words “Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup” engraved on one side of the outside rim, and “From Stanley of Preston” on the other side.

There are actually three Stanley Cups: the original bowl, the authenticated Cup, and the replica at the Hall of Fame. The original bowl, purchased by Lord Stanley and physically awarded to the champion until 1970, is on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Ontario.

The authenticated version or “Presentation Cup” was created in 1963 by Montreal silversmith Carl Petersen. NHL president Clarence Campbell felt that the original bowl was becoming too thin and fragile, and thus requested a duplicate trophy as a replacement. The Presentation Cup is authenticated by the seal of the Hockey Hall of Fame on the bottom, which can be seen when winning players lift the Cup over their heads, and it is the one currently awarded to the champions of the playoffs and used for promotions. This version was made in secret, and its production was only revealed three years later.

Twelve women have had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup. The first was Marguerite Norris, who won the Cup as the President of the Detroit Red Wings in 1954 and 1955. The only Canadian woman to have her name engraved on the Stanley Cup is Sonia Scurfield, who won the Cup as a co-owner of the Calgary Flames in 1989.

The original bowl was made of silver and has a dimension of 18.5 centimeters (7.28 inches) in height and 29 centimeters (11.42 inches) in diameter. The current Stanley Cup, topped with a copy of the original bowl, is made of silver and nickel alloy. Today, it has a height of 35.25 inches and weighs 34.5 pounds.
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