Wouldn't that render the popular superstition moot? Besides, if every year neither conference champ gives either trophy even the tenderest of tickles, someone still has to be the Stanley Cup loser. So congrats to Mr. Crosby and the rest of the Pens, for booking an amazing return to the Cup finals by sweeping the 'Canes, and to taking a stand against the black magic of hockey trophy lore. As Crosby pointed out last night, illustrating the absurd nature of the tradition, "We didn't touch (the trophy) last year, and things didn't go the way we wanted. I thought we'd change it up this year."
I think to not touch an earned trophy is disrespectful to the person the trophy is meant to honor. In this case the Pens deserve that trophy and should relish every monent of being the Eastern conference champs. To play for the Stanley cup you have to earn the right and only two teams earn the right. Eastern and Western Conference champs.
As with the Stanley cup there is only one conference champion and they earned it.
Show some respect to the trophy that you have won and enjoy the moment.
To win a conference trophy takes a lot more than winning the Stanley cup. 4 rounds versus one round. To win the conference a team has to beat a lot teams to get there.
To win the Stanley cup you only have to beat one team.
As a Leaf fan who has not seen his team win anything for a long time( more than a couple of years or so) it would be nice to see our team progress to the point where they can hoist some hardware.
So I say good for you Pens. Well done.
Posted by: BJ | Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 04:26 PM
I was always told that the Stanley Cup was the only trophy that players wouldn`t touch until they won it......What a dumb tradition...I agree with B.J. that ANY trophy that you win should be touched, passed around and shared with all who worked so hard to earn the prize....
Posted by: walter | Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 08:30 PM
I remember when the Islanders won the Prince of Wales trophy and captain Denis Potvin hoisted it over his head knocking the lid off in the process. I wonder if that was the year that they lost the drive for 5 to Edmonton (1984)?
Posted by: aubrey | Thursday, May 28, 2009 at 10:31 AM
Did you notice that Sid did not HOIST the P of W trophy ? He just carried it to the other members of the team . Anyway , I don't think that superstitions have any place in the game of hockey . GO PENS !
Posted by: GS | Thursday, May 28, 2009 at 02:46 PM
Im gonna love it when the pens win the cup....hossa leaving to detroit and all lol....GO PENS
Posted by: rick | Thursday, May 28, 2009 at 09:27 PM
Who really cares if sidney hoisted the prince of wales cup. The media has made it all about Sid. Since when is one person a team. GO WINGS GO!!!
Posted by: george | Tuesday, June 02, 2009 at 10:46 AM