Professional hockey players have always maintained a very stoic image, answering interview questions with an almost robotic type feel. We all know that many of these guys are no different than your junior, college, or beer league hockey buddies who enjoy gassing a few beers post game. The only difference is that they are doing it at high-end restaurants and not the bar inside of the local ice rink.
Then came the 2018 Washington Capitals, in particular Alex Ovechkin, and their Stanley Cup winning celebratory bender that seemed to leave the uptight hockey world in a state of shock and awe. It seems as though that post Cup winning heater has changed the game and every year since the victor is trying to one-up the previous celebrations.
Let’s recap some of the best stories and parties coming from the Stanley Cup victors:
2021 Tampa Bay Lightning
I understand this bender is still ongoing; however, let’s just try to highlight a few of the things that have happened so far:
- Kucherov has been an electric factory in interviews starting with his shirtless, Bud Light and Percocet fueled tirade after game 5
- Kuch has also followed it up by dousing Tampa Bay reporters and himself with beer after/during interviews at the boat parade
- While discussing Kuch, he has worn a new shirt (when he is wearing clothes – see point #1) trolling Montreal and the rest of the league almost every day whether it be about the cap, “number one bullshit”, etc.
- Clips have come out of the players leaving the arena after game 5 at around 3am looking “ready to go” with the cup and an oversized bottle of champagne
- Stamkos’ Instagram post showcasing the Cup being hoisted next to a dock while the sun rises was captioned with “No sleep when you go back to back!”
- Somehow the Stanley Cup got dented and has to be sent to Montreal for repair – Pat Maroon said it is bullshit and the rain’s fault, but I do have a feeling that maybe a few ice cold Buds may have helped out as well
- You know the celebrations are getting wild when even Coach Cooper decides to toss a bottle of what appeared to be champagne to fans in the crowd during the boat parade
- Vasi turned the Conn Smythe Trophy in to a hat
- How would it be a boat parade if Killorn (of course accompanied by Kuch) didn’t take the Cup for a few laps on his infamous jet ski
The biggest question for me following this party is when will Kucherov finally sober up? The guy has been maintaining a solid buzz and I don’t think he has slept since game 5. As it is the hardest trophy in sports to win, I would like to quote the great Wayne Campbell and say “party on [Kuch]”.
2020 Tampa Bay Lightning
The Lightning are currently trying to top their shenanigans from last year, but as Patty Maroon said in his post-game conference, they didn’t have their day with the Cup in 2020. So let the boys have some fun!
Some key highlights from the 2020 celebrations include:
- Kuch (of course) pouring beer down Lightning owner Jeff Vinik’s throat twice – rumor has it that he was going for a 3rd time and someone finally stopped him
- Patty Maroon with wet pants in quite a suspicious location during the boat parade. Was it beer? Was it urine? Only Patty knows the truth
- Mathieu Joseph allegedly sneaking off to puke and rally outside of a downtown hotel
- Video of Patty Maroon shotgunning a Michelob Ultra then throwing it to the fans like Stone Cold Steve Austin back in the 90’s
- Patty also gave a very “eloquent” speech asking fans to raise up their phones (like he was about to lay down a sweet guitar solo) while shirtless and then proceeded to ramble on about his teammates and how much it means to win
It seemed as though last year, the players went hard publicly for only the day of the parade; however, it was also a different time as much of the world was still shut down by Covid. After almost 18 months of strict Covid protocol, I am not shocked to see what the boys are doing now to let their hair down!
St. Louis Blues
Brett Hull was a one-man party and should be enough to film a reality series alone. He made Kucherov’s post Cup shenanigans look like amateur hour. We should have seen the Brett Hull shitshow about to erupt when the photo was released of him sipping on an adult beverage and rubbing his nipples through his shirt at Game 6 of the SCF against Boston. When the Blues won the Cup, it was the spark lighting the gasoline because Hull was ready to burn that city down.
I could dedicate this entire post to Hully, but I will try to mix in a few other key moments from their celebration as well.
- The night before the parade, Hull was seen wandering the street at 3am welcoming fans to the great city of St. Louis
- Hull also went missing after this sighting, but showed up in time for the parade wearing the same clothes he was seen in the night before. Where did he go? Does he even know? One of the universe’s great mysteries
- During the parade, Hull managed to get up on the stage in front of the mic and give a rendition of Gloria so bad that Fox Sports had to cut away to commercial
- During this same speech, he also mixed up the “Let’s Go Blues” and tried to get fans to chant “We Went Blues”
- Hull was also spotted riding on the hood of one of the cars while also informing people that the Blues were #1, but using the wrong finger
- Brayden Schenn was seen walking around in a firefighter helmet – probably from the firetruck he was riding on in the parade, but we may want to confirm
- Eddy and Borts decided a pushup competition would make sense in the middle of the parade – sure why not?
- Who could forget Robby Fabbri’s interview, Bud Light in hand of course, where “his legs were tired” and he needed a little help standing up. So of course, the logical decision is to lie down on top of a truck to chat with reporters? When in Rome, right?
- The icing on the cake is that Brett Hull’s wife had to make a Facebook post letting people know he was home and alive because everyone was concerned with what happened to Hull
I mean what do you expect when you have Brett Hull on your staff as Director of Fun and Games? Being a team guy, I believe Hull partied that hard so the players could have a good time and be viewed as altar boys in comparison. He took one for the team! Even more impressive is the fact that no one died, including Hull, and that was a feat that may go down in history as tougher than winning the Cup.
2018 Washington Capitals
This was the first group to take their celebrations to the street and really let the world see how much winning Lord Stanley’s Cup means to these players. Although, winning it in Vegas is never a bad way to kickoff any celebration.
A few historic moments from the Caps turn with the Stanley Cup:
- After winning the Cup in Vegas, Ovechkin bring the Cup onstage of a nightclub where artist Tiesto was performing
- John Carlson was seen at 4:25am walking through the MGM lobby holding the Stanley Cup with Matt Niskanen leading the way
- Upon arriving home, the boys take the Cup to a local bar in Arlington, VA and it seems as though the party was just getting revved up
- The next day, the Caps were honorary guests for the Nationals baseball game and Ovi was to throw out the first pitch
- At the game, the boys proceeded to repeatedly hold the Cup up for fans while proceeding to build a beer-amid showcasing their empty beer cans
- The empty beer cans became such an “eye sore” that the local Fox Sports channel had to quit zooming over to their suite throughout the game
- After the game, is when the iconic video surfaced of the players swimming in the fountain in Georgetown
- And last, but not least, who could forget TJ Oshie’s ability to chug a beer through his jersey?
This may seem tame and by Kucherov standards, it is; however, this was the first-time players opened up to the fans and public. Many sharing their misadventures on platforms like Twitter and Instagram. While they are not the original “Cup partiers”, I do give them credit for being the first ones who were open about it and were not afraid to hide their celebrations. We have heard stories, rumors, and legends of the old school guys and their party days with the Cup, but this was truly the start of the public being fully aware of the heater the boys can go on.
Some other funny stories I would like to share from the Stanley Cup celebrations over the years:
- 2011 Boston Bruins – The B’s ran up a $156,679.74 bar tab at Shrine nightclub in the Foxwoods Casino in Mashantucket, CT. You can tell it was a different era and the image the players tried to uphold because when asked about the tab, Chara said “we are very disappointed at something like this. I’m not sure how it got out. That was our first and only night we had as a team together. We went out to Foxwoods to have a normal good time, nothing crazy…”. The funniest part of the story is that Amstel Light asked for the player who ordered to lone Amstel Light on the tab to come forward for sponsorship.
- 1999 Dallas Stars – The Bolts are not the first team to damage the Stanley Cup by any means of the imagination. The Dallas Stars hold one of the more legendary rumors mentioned above. During the 1999 Stars celebration, Guy Carbonneau allegedly tried tossing the Cup off of a balcony and in to a pool. When he missed the pool, a nice dent appeared in Lord Stanley.
- 1998 Detroit Red Wings – Kris Draper thought putting his baby daughter in the Cup would be a memorable experience. Which it was, but for the wrong reasons. His daughter ended up “relieving” herself and the Cup became an undersized toilet for the Draper daughter.
- 1993 Montreal Canadiens –Patrick Roy wanted to take the Cup swimming in his pool; however, the swim was unsuccessful and the Cup sat at the bottom of the pool.
- 1991 Pittsburgh Penguins – Phil Bourque wanted to take the Cup in to Mario’s backyard pool and quickly learned how fast 35 lbs. of silver can sink. Somehow in the sinking process, a piece of the Cup broke off and the hockey legends tried to actually duct tape it back together.
- 1987 Edmonton Oilers – In 1987, Mark Messier and the Oilers took the Cup out to a gentleman’s club and managed to damage it during the celebrations. Allegedly, the Cup was on stage and it was damaged while being part of the “act”. This is before camera phones and social media, so no one besides the people in attendance are quite sure how that went down.
- 1962 Toronto Maple Leads – After a few Labatt Blue’s the boys mixed up silver with wood and ended up tossing the Trophy in to the bonfire
- 1905 Ottawa Senators – While lighting up their hometown, the Cup got drop kicked on to the frozen canal
What do you think? Is it good for the players to show off this “fun loving” side of their celebrations? Does it make these athletes more relatable? Or do you prefer the calm, cool, and collected image of yesteryear? I personally enjoy it as I would be doing much of the same if I was in their position.
Congrats to the boys of the Bay and I hope they enjoy every second with Lord Stanley!