The Stanley Cup ring is a championship ring, an annual award in the National Hockey League given to the team that wins the Stanley Cup Finals, [1] a best-of-seven series to determine the league's champion that season. [2] In addition to the winning players, teams give rings to coaches, trainers, scouts, executives, and other staff members. Teams often give rings to players who played for the team, but do not qualify to have their name engraved on the Stanley Cup. The most ever won by a single player was Henri Richard with 11 total championship rings.
The Stanley Cup was established in 1893, when the Montreal Hockey Club won the 1893 Stanley Cup championship. [3] Since that championship, the rings weren't given again until the Ottawa Senators won the 1927 Stanley Cup Finals. [4] There have been cases in which championship teams have not awarded rings to its players, such as the Montreal Hockey Club's second championship (which gave out watches) and the 1915 champions, the Vancouver Millionaires (which issued medallions). [5]
For many years teams did not give any rings at all and players had to buy them for themselves. In the 1950s The Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup four times, but players were given silverware [6] or bought a dinner [7] instead of rings. Players were eventually given rings by the team more than fifty years later. [1] In the 1960s the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup four times, but players were originally only given one ring with diamonds that were removed and enlarged for each subsequent win. [1] In 1971 the Montreal Canadiens gave players television sets instead of rings. Since 1972, every winning team has awarded more Stanley Cup Rings than the number of names engraved on the Stanley Cup. In 2011 Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs gave out a record 504 Stanley Cup rings to anyone connected with the team. [8]
Each ring usually costs between $20,000 to $25,000. [9]
This is a list of NHL players with Stanley Cup championship rings won as a player.
Pos | D | Defenceman | L | Left winger | R | Right winger | C | Center |
* | Denotes players who have been inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame |
Joseph René Marcel Pronovost was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and coach. He played in 1,206 games over 20 National Hockey League (NHL) seasons for the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs between 1950 and 1970. A top defenceman, Pronovost was named to four post-season NHL All-Star teams and played in 11 All-Star Games. He was a member of four Stanley Cup championship teams with the Red Wings, the first in 1950, and won a fifth title with the Maple Leafs in 1967. Pronovost was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a player in 1978.
Carl Potter Voss was an American ice hockey forward in the National Hockey League. He played for several teams between 1926 and 1938. He would later become a referee, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1974 as a builder.
Lawrence Morley Hillman was a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and coach. One of the most travelled players in hockey history, he played for 15 different teams in his 22 professional seasons. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) between 1955 and 1973, and then in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1973 to 1976. After retiring he spent parts of three seasons as a coach in the WHA. Hillman had his name engraved on the Stanley Cup six times during his playing career.
The 1986 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1985–86 season, and the culmination of the 1986 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Campbell Conference champion Calgary Flames and the Wales Conference champion Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens won the best-of-seven series in five games to win their 23rd Stanley Cup, and their 17th in their last 18 Finals appearances dating back to 1956.
The 1976 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1975–76 season, and the culmination of the 1976 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers, making their third consecutive finals appearance, and the Montreal Canadiens. This was the Canadiens first appearance in the Final since their Cup win in 1973. The Canadiens swept the series to win their 19th Stanley Cup in franchise history, denying the Flyers a three-peat.
The 1978 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1977–78 season, and the culmination of the 1978 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Boston Bruins and the defending champion Montreal Canadiens, making their third straight appearance in the Finals. The series was a rematch of the 1977 Stanley Cup Finals. The Canadiens won the best-of-seven series, four games to two, to win their third consecutive Stanley Cup championship and their 21st overall. This was the last time that both the Boston Bruins and Montreal Canadiens met in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Canadiens eventually joined the Bruins in the Adams Division in 1982.
The 1971 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1970–71 season, and the culmination of the 1971 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Chicago Black Hawks and the Montreal Canadiens. The Black Hawks made their first appearance in the finals since 1965, while the Canadiens had last played in and won the final in 1969. The Canadiens won the series, four games to three.
The 1969 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1968–69 season, and the culmination of the 1969 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the defending champion Montreal Canadiens and the St. Louis Blues, a rematch of the previous year's finals. As they did in the previous matchup, the Canadiens won the series in four games.
The 1968 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1967–68 season, and the culmination of the 1968 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Montreal Canadiens and the St. Louis Blues. The Canadiens swept the Blues to win their 15th Stanley Cup championship.
The 1966 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1965–66 season, and the culmination of the 1966 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by the Detroit Red Wings and the defending champion Montreal Canadiens. This was the fifth Detroit-Montreal Cup Final; they previously met in 1952, 1954, 1955, and 1956, with the Red Wings winning the former three and the Canadiens winning the latter. The Canadiens defeated the Red Wings in six games to win the Stanley Cup for the seventh time in eleven years. This was the last Cup Final appearance for the Red Wings until 1995.
The 1965 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1964–65 season, and the culmination of the 1965 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Chicago Black Hawks and the Montreal Canadiens. The Canadiens won the best-of-seven series, four games to three, to win the Stanley Cup. Significantly, Game 7 marked the first time that any NHL competition had taken place during the month of May.
The 1964 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1963–64 season, and the culmination of the 1964 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the defending champion Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings for the second straight year. The Maple Leafs overcame a 3-2 series deficit to defeat the Red Wings in seven games for their third-straight championship. It was the second Stanley Cup three-peat by the Maple Leafs.
The 1963 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1962–63 season, and the culmination of the 1963 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested by the defending champion Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings. The Maple Leafs won the best-of-seven series, four games to one, to win the Stanley Cup, their second straight NHL championship and their 11th title overall.
The 1960 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1959–60 season, and the culmination of the 1960 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the four-time defending champion Montreal Canadiens, appearing in their tenth consecutive finals, and the Toronto Maple Leafs; it was a rematch of the previous year's finals and the fourth finals meeting in the history of the Canadiens–Maple Leafs rivalry. The Canadiens swept the Maple Leafs for their fifth straight Cup victory, which stands as an NHL record.
The 1936 Stanley Cup Finals was contested by the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs. This was Detroit's second appearance in the Finals and Toronto's sixth. Detroit would win the series 3–1 to win their first Stanley Cup. This marked the sixth consecutive season of a different winner, and the eighth of the first ten teams to win in the ten seasons since the Stanley Cup became exclusive to the NHL.
The 1958 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1957–58 season, and the culmination of the 1958 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the two-time defending champion Montreal Canadiens and the Boston Bruins in a rematch of the 1957 Finals. The Canadiens, who were appearing in the Finals for the eighth consecutive year, defeated the Bruins in six games for their third straight Cup victory and tenth in the team's history. The Canadiens became the second team in NHL history to three-peat as Stanley Cup champions, joining their archrival Toronto Maple Leafs.
The 1957 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1956–57 season, and the culmination of the 1957 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the defending champion Montreal Canadiens and the Boston Bruins. The Canadiens were making their seventh consecutive Final appearance, while Boston was making their first appearance since their 1953 loss to Montreal. The Canadiens won the series, four games to one, for their second straight Cup victory.
The 1956 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1955–56 season, and the culmination of the 1956 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Montreal Canadiens and the two-time defending champion Detroit Red Wings in the fourth Detroit-Montreal series in the 1950s, the two teams having met in the previous two years as well as in 1952; Detroit won all three. The Canadiens were appearing in their sixth consecutive Finals, the Red Wings their third. The Canadiens avenged their previous three losses to Detroit, as they defeated the Red Wings in five games to win their second Stanley Cup in four years.
The 1955 Stanley Cup Finals was the championship series of the National Hockey League's (NHL) 1954–55 season, and the culmination of the 1955 Stanley Cup playoffs. It was contested between the Montreal Canadiens, appearing in their fifth of ten straight Finals, and the defending champion Detroit Red Wings, in the third Detroit-Montreal Finals series of the 1950s and the second consecutively. The Red Wings once again defeated the Canadiens in seven games for their second consecutive Stanley Cup championship, fourth in six seasons, and seventh overall. The Red Wings would not win the Stanley Cup again until 1997.
The 1950 Stanley Cup Finals was contested by the New York Rangers and the Detroit Red Wings. It was the Rangers' first appearance in the Finals since their Stanley Cup victory in 1940. This was a rematch of the 1937 Stanley Cup Finals, which the Red Wings won in five games. The Red Wings once again defeated the Rangers, this time in seven games, to mark their franchise's fourth Cup win, and first since 1943.