Hawks Are Favorites for the Cup
The Stanley Cup
The biggest prize in all of ice hockey, the Stanley Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the National Hockey League playoff. Having begun life in 1893, the Stanley Cup was first awarded to the Canadian side Montreal Hockey Club who went on to win the trophy on three other occasions. Montreal HC originally wanted to refuse the Stanley Cup due to a dispute with the MAAA, an association they would ultimately leave before becoming the Montreal Royals. There are a total of three Stanley Cups in existence. The original was known as the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, the second trophy the Presentation Cup and also the Replica Cup. While the NHL does have control over both the Stanley Cup trophy and its associated trademarks, the organisation does not actually own the trophy itself. This competition is the only of the major pro sports leagues in America which does not have a new trophy made each year for the winning team. Instead, the side who win the playoff keep hold of the trophy for one year until the next Stanley Cup champion is crowned. Another reason why the Stanley Cup is so unique is the fact that it has the names of all the various playing and back room staff from the winning teams engraved on its chalice. Due to the fact that the trophy can only contain a limited number of names, once a band is full, it is removed and stored in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Until the 1914-15 campaign, the Stanley Cup had been won by a total of nine different hockey teams. Since then, eighteen active NHL sides as well as five defunct teams have won the trophy. The most successful side in Stanley Cup history are the Montreal Canadiens who have been champions on twenty four separate occasions. Montreal are also the last Canadian team to win the cup, that success coming back in 1993. Since 1926, only teams from the NHL have competed for the Stanley Cup, and in 1947, the league reached an agreement which gave them full control over the trophy. For all the latest ice hockey odds, visit betfair.com.
A total of sixteen teams take part in the Stanley Cup playoffs, with the eight top sides in each of the two conferences qualifying for this four round best of seven series. The NHL has always utilised a playoff system to determine its champion, and this series of games makes for some seriously exciting ice hockey action. The tension and thrills of the Stanley Cup playoff games are arguably unmatched in any other sport, and due to the fairly gruelling format, the champions are always very worthy of the Stanley Cup trophy. While upsets in the playoffs are rare, this does mean that the better sides generally make it through to the latter stages, and the two best teams in the NHL will often meet in the Stanley Cup final. The odds compilers at Betfair make the Chicago Blackhawks favourites to win this season’s Stanley Cup, and it would be no surprise to see the 2/1 favourites land this prestigious prize.
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