The NHL's Stanley Cup presentation is the best of the Big Four North American professional leagues, but it could be even better, writes Adam Proteau.
It’s almost that time of year again – the time when one worthy team wins the Stanley Cup and thrills its fan base by beating the odds to outlast every other NHL franchise. But there’s room for improvement with the Cup ceremony, and if you’ve regularly read our work over the years, you’ll know what that is.
We’re talking about the Cup-handover ceremony. Every spring, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman comes out to award the Cup to the captain of the winning team, and every year, the ceremony isn’t all it could be, as fans regularly boo Bettman.
If Bettman awarding the Cup personally was the only option for the league, we’d be happy to let the process play out as it always does. But when there’s a legitimate option to choose instead, it’s worthwhile to discuss it and advocate for change.
As we’ve said numerous times over the years, imagine how much better the Cup ceremony would be if it was a former player with the winning organization handing over the trophy to the captain. It could be (and as a first option, it should be) someone who has won the Cup previously, but if there wasn’t that type of player available, you could turn to a Hockey Hall of Famer from the winning franchise or an icon from that team to do the honors.
Let’s look at the final teams remaining in this year’s playoffs and give you an example of who could be a better choice than the NHL commissioner. In Dallas, wouldn’t it be great if former star center Joe Nieuwendyk – who led the Stars to the first Cup win in franchise history – handed over the Cup to Jamie Benn? Of course it would. Nieuwendyk is the epitome of class, and Dallas fans would greet him with thunderous applause as he stepped onto the ice to present Benn with the trophy. Mike Modano would be another strong option as the face of the franchise for more than a decade and a Hall of Famer.
As for the other two teams remaining in action – the Eastern Conference-champion Florida Panthers and the Vegas Golden Knights – the handover ceremony would be a little trickier, as both the Panthers and Golden Knights don’t have much in the way of championship history to turn to for a Cup-presenter.
Florida might choose longtime cornerstone (and current TV analyst) Ed Jovanovski, who was on the roster in 1995-96, the only other time the Panthers have made it to the Cup final. And the Golden Knights, who’ve only been in operation since the 2017-18 campaign, might choose someone off of their inaugural season’s roster – say, former defenseman Deryk Engelland, a longtime Vegas resident who was a true community leader for the Golden Knights prior to his 2020 retirement.
Any of those options could be better than Bettman, who has come to expect the boo-birds as part of his job. But it doesn’t have to be that way. The NHL can improve on the entertainment element of the Cup-awarding ceremony. All it needs is the corporate willpower to do so. And Bettman would be lauded for stepping to the side and allowing a hockey icon to make a memory fans wouldn’t soon forget.
The NHL already has a better championship ceremony than the other three of the Big Four North American professional leagues. In the NBA, NFL and MLB, the commissioner awards the championship trophy to the winning team’s owner. That’s a letdown, as fans don’t buy tickets to see owners own teams. They’re there for the players.
The same holds true for the NHL. The players are the ones who win each year’s Cup, and keeping the ceremony between current and former players would be a huge boost to the present-day ceremony. Bettman could be a trailblazer if he chose to keep the focus and spotlight solely on the players, and he could surely still play a role in the postgame festivities, like presenting the Conn Smythe to the playoff MVP. We’ll continue to advocate for a change in that regard, as our proposal makes too much sense to allow to die on the vine.