Robert Gauthier, the Stanley Cup, and Rink Rash

I’m a big fan of the street hockey, and I like to get out there on Sundays and try to score some goals. Sadly that did not happen yesterday, but ...

I’m a big fan of the street hockey, and I like to get out there on Sundays and try to score some goals. Sadly that did not happen yesterday, but I did get my first (very minor) rink rash of the season, and for that, at least, I am glad. I thought this merited a hockey-themed post, and I remembered Robert Gauthier‘s coverage of the Stanley Cup for the Los Angeles Times. Not the Stanley Cup playoffs, mind you, but the cup itself, as by tradition it spends one day with each of the players on the championship team. This is not unlike my experience with color war at Camp Fernwood so I highly approve of such traditions. Go Green.

Here are images from the 2007 championship summer; this work recently won a National Press Photographers Association prize.

For Jean-Sebastien Giguere, it’s the best of all worlds as he and his
wife, Kristen, pose for an intimate moment with the Stanley Cup in the
privacy of their own home. During his first few hours with the trophy,
J.S. and Kristen carried the cup in and around the house posing for
pictures taken by a local photographer and family members.

Sam Pahlsson and cup keeper Phil Pritchard, right, sneak the Stanley
Cup into the back window at his Ornskoldsvik, Sweden home as friends
and family gather for a party in the front yard, August 1, 2007.
Pahlsson’s home was built in the 1920’s and is located along Sweden’s
“Gold Coast.” The Gold Coast got its name from the fact that it’s
residents include Olympic and World Games gold medalist hockey players.

Francois Beauchemin serenades the Stanley Cup with a French-Canadian
love song as friends and family revel in his victory at his Sorel, QC
home.

Cup keeper Mike Bolt showers the Stanley Cup in the bathroom of the
Saskatchewan Hotel in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada minutes after Ducks
player Chris Kunitz kisses it goodbye. Kunitz and friends gave up the
trophy at 5 am. Teammate, Ryan Getzlaf begins his day with it two hours
later.

Retired Royal Canadian Mounties Dave Kirkby, left, and Lloyd Ferguson
stand guard over the Stanley Cup at a party hosted by Rob and Scott
Niedermayer in Cranbrook, BC, Canada. Scott won the cup three times
previously. This is Rob’s first.

Travis Moen walks a dusty road in Stewart Valley, Saskatchewan near his
family’s 3500 acre cattle ranch and grain farm as he spends his first
few hours with the cup posing for family photos.