4 Perks Players Get For Winning The Stanley Cup
What is the biggest desire of every sportsman? Wouldn’t it be a remarkable achievement to win a cup for the team? Hockey players dream of winning the Stanley Cup with their team, but few can achieve this goal.
How does winning the Stanley Cup benefit players? Besides having personal and team fame and glory, winners will be blessed to have their name engraved on the cup forever, the most wanted Stanley cup ring, a cash bonus, and a special exclusive day to enjoy with the cup at their chosen location. Other than that, all 16 teams of the postseason will share the prize money, with the champions receiving the biggest individual cash bonus.
Let’s find out what they get in addition to this trophy. Do they get anything else?
Table of Contents
1. Name Engraved on the Cup
When a team wins the Stanley Cup, the name of the entire team is engraved on the Stanley Cup. Unlike other leagues, which design a new trophy yearly, the Stanley Cup has remained the same for all the games. It is an antiquate trophy. Getting your name engraved on this Cup is a huge accomplishment.
Also, imagine your name just a few inches beside the idols you grew up admiring and looking up to! What a feeling! This engraving of the name is the best reward for winning the Cup.
2. Stanley Cup Ring
All the teams design and produce their rings. The NHL commissioner bestows all the players with a unique commemorative Stanley Cup ring. Along with the players, the team management and all other supporting pillars also get the ring for themselves.
Unlike the Stanley Cup, the ring is for each member, and they have it for a lifetime. The rings cost more than $20,000 because they are made of gold and diamonds. But they are not sold; the players keep them as a memory.
Let us look at the Stanley Cup ring of the St. Louis Blues.
Characteristics Of The Ring
Each ring has the following characteristics:
- 15 Round Sapphires
- 16 Custom cut Blue Sapphires
- 20 Princess cut Sapphires
- 282 total Diamonds
- 10.6 carrots
Comprising Of
Player’s name and number
- Play Gloria (the rally cry song)
- Engraved Results from the winning games
- Laila (engraved name of inspirational fan)
- St. Louis Arch and Blues Logo
The central theme is the St. Blues, of course.
3. Personal Day with the Cup
Another heart-warming perk of winning the Stanley Cup is the players get to spend a day of their own choice with the Cup. And so, the Stanley Cup has traveled all over the world in the summers, witnessing a lot of places and memories.
Some of those memories include:
- Martin Brodeur had old friends get together where they played street hockey, and the winning team exhibited the Stanley Cup together.
- At Mario Lemieux’s party at his home, the Stanley Cup swam!
- Peter Forsberg became the first to take the Cup overseas to Sweden. It has seen the world today, including the Eiffel Tower and Red Square.
- Newborn babies are being baptized in it.
- Small-town parades with the Stanley Cup.
The players do not get the Cup to keep, but they get a mini version they can have for themselves.
4. Bonus Funds
The most significant advantage of winning the Stanley Cup is getting a bonus amount of money. The players get their regular salaries during the Playoffs, and there are no bonuses except for the new players and the players above 35 years of age.
The NHL has a cash pool for the money divided among the teams playing in the Playoffs. The division of the funds depends on the team’s level in the Playoffs.
The pool money that the NHL has reserved for some years is:
- 2014-15 – $14 million
- 2015-16 – $14 million
- 2016-17 – $15 million
- 2017-18 – $15 million
- 2018-19 – $16 million
- 2019-20 – $16 million
- 2020-21 – $17 million
- 2021-22 – $17 million
The NHL increases this money after every three years. But, it is also a fact that the NHL players get minor compensation compared to the other leagues.
The players who win the Stanley Cup get about $200,000 of the reserved amount, which is vast, even though the money is not the more fantastic prize. Winning the Cup and having your name saved forever is the greatest.
How much will a player get?
The prize money exact amount for the Stanley cup winners and playoffs players is based solely on the club. Each team gives its vote on the quota of shares. Players who play a few playoff games will get a partial share, while the regular players will receive an equal share.
Pittsburgh Penguins, in 2017, reportedly received a total prize of $4.325 million for becoming the champions and the Nashville Predators got prize money of $2.6 million for runner-up. This cash prize is then voted on and divided into the players’ shares.
For instance, if the Penguins voted for 25 equal shares and with that, each player would have received a bonus of $173,000.
Frequently Asked Questions
For how long do teams keep the Stanley cup?
After winning the Stanley cup, the champion team keeps the Stanley cup for a year until the next team is crowned as Champions.
Will Stanley cup losers get any reward?
Each team’s reward money depends upon how far they have progressed. Stanley cup winners will get the highest prize money while the loser (runner-ups) will receive the second largest cash bonus.
The eight teams who got out of the Stanley cup race in the first round will get the lowest prize money, the teams who get eliminated in the second round will get more prize money than the last groups, and the same goes with the two semi-final loser teams in receiving prize money.
Who keeps the Stanley cup after winning it?
The champion-winner team keeps the Stanley cup after winning it. Each player keeps the Stanley cup individually at least for a day and spends a day celebrating with their style and culture.
Conclusion
In conclusion, winning the Stanley Cup itself is enormous. All the other advantages are relatively minor when compared to this win. Some players spend their whole lives trying to win the Stanley Cup, but few succeed. Other things are just side benefits!
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