WASHINGTON (WUSA9)-- Since the Washington Capitals are in the Stanley Cup Final, there has been a lot of talk about having the Stanley Cup Trophy in Washington, D.C.
Currently the Caps lead the Golden Knights in the series 2-1, and there's a pretty good chance that it actually could come to the District.
So maybe before it gets here, we should all take a history lesson of how the Stanley Cup Trophy came to be.
How did the Stanley cup get it's name?
In 1892, the trophy was just a cup and valued at 10 guineas, which was about $50 during that time.
Sir Frederick Arthur Stanley, Lord Stanley of Preston bought the cup and planned to present it to the "champion hockey team in the Dominion of Canada."
It was a a reminder of his time as Canada's governor general.
The trophy standing at only 7.28 inches tall and 11.42 inches in width back then, is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a sports franchise.
How the Stanley Cup came to U.S.
In 1893 the trophy was first handed to the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association, for the Montreal Hockey Club finishing first in the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada.
From 1893 to 1906, the receiver of the Stanley Cup was determined by challenge games that involved the top amateur teams in Canada.
In 1907, when the Montreal Wanderers declared themselves professional, that changed everything, and they won the Stanley Cup in March of that year.
The National Hockey Association (the forerunner of the NHL) took possession of the Stanley Cup in 1910 and began the tradition of the and interleague championship series at the end of the season.
It was at this time that the Stanley Cup trustees also made it eligible for teams based in the United States to compete for the Cup.
The Portland Rosebuds was the first U.S. team to compete for the Cup in 1916.
The Rosebuds loss the series 3-2 to the Montreal Canadiens.
However, the next season the Seattle Metropolitans defeated the Montreal Canadiens in four games, making them the first U.S. team to win the Stanley Cup.
The NHL came into existence in 1918, and its winner played the champion of the western professional leagues from 1918-1926.
In 1925, the Victoria Cougars for the Western Canada Hockey League was the only team beat an NHL team for the Cup.
The next season, the Cougars loss to the Montreal Maroons in the Final, and became the final non-NHL team to compete for the trophy.
Since the 1926-27 season, the trophy has been with NHL Teams.
The NHL entered into an agreement with the Cup's trustees in 1947, that granted control of the Cup to the League and allowed it to reject challenges for other leagues and teams.
The look of the Stanley Cup
Since Lord Stanley purchased the cup, the look has changed drastically over the years.
What was a small simple bowl in the beginning, slowly changed into a 3-foot-high trophy, because of a decision in 1924 to allow the inscription of the names of the players on the championship team each season.
Then in 1939 the Cup was given a standardized form as a long, cigar-shaped trophy.
But that look wouldn't last too long.
In 1948, the trophy was transformed into a two-piece trophy with a wide, barrel-shaped base and a removable bowl and collar.
The Cup was slightly improved in 1963, when the NHL President Clarence Campbell felt the original five-band Cup had become too brittle to be presented to winning team each season.
That is the trophy that we use today.
A replica of the trophy was made in 1993 and remains in the Hockey Hall of fame, and displayed with the "presentation" Cup is on the road.
What may be the most unique fact about the Stanley Cup, is that it remains to be the only professional sports trophy where the name of every member of the winning team is engraved.
For that to continue to happen, bands are retired to make room for new champions while keeping the trophy at it's current size.
Hopefully the Capitals will defeat the Golden Knights, and we will get to see all of those guys' names added to the Cup!
Contact Ashley on Twitter @AshleyHasSpoken
