Quote:
Originally Posted by Fish on The Sand
The very moment the Stanley Cup gets awarded to a non-NHL team it loses its credibility as a trophy. Nobody watches the playoffs to see who wins the Stanley Cup, they watch to see who becomes NHL champion. If you start awarding the cup to nothing leagues, then the trophy becomes a nothing trophy. The Stanley Cup is what it is because of the NHL, not the other way around.
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You might want to take a better look at the Stanley Cup's history. In its first 21 years, The Stanley cup was a challenge Cup for the best Canadian teams to complete and defend throughout the year. In 1914, the Allan Cup became highest prize for amateur Canadian hockey teams to play for each year. The trustees of the Stanley Cup changed the rules to allow all professional hockey teams to play for the cup and the champion would no longer be the best hockey team in Canada but for the whole world.
The Stanley Cup was played for from 1893 to 1926 (34 years) by other teams and leagues other than the NHL and later the NHL. The NHL was the only professional hockey league standing in 1927 so they were never challenged for the Cup. In 1947, the trustees broke the rules of Lord Stanleys trust granting the NHL defacto controller of the Stanley Cup and its playoff system for who would play for the Cup. The WHA never bothered to challenge for the Stanley Cup or take it to court. The NHL has become attached to the Stanley Cup history and the history is together but don't suggest that the NHL makes the Stanley Cup. The KHL or SEL could under the conditions set by Lord Stanley's trust play for the cup against the NHL champions.
In 2006, the Ontario Superior Court ruled that the Trustees had no rights under the trust by Lord Stanley to grant the NHL trademark and Stanley Cup right under the 1947 agreement. The lawsuit was settled with the NHL out of court and the NHL agreed to allow other challenge for the Cup should the league not play the season as like 2004-05 season.
It should be consider a new Challenge Cup tournament if they don't play. Every kid who plays hockey in North America grows up dreaming of playing for the Stanley Cup and scoring the winning goal not playing for some other trophy so what is the NHL if they lose the Stanley Cup? Those same players want to play in the best league no matter what its name but they have to play for the Stanley Cup.
Again just my opinion.