Pre-Meal for Jun 3, 2026A Day with the Cup

Happy Wednesday!

Most sports hand out a new trophy every year. Win the NBA Finals? Tiffany & Co. mints a fresh Larry O’Brien Trophy, engraves the name of your team, and that shiny new hardware stays with the organization forever. Ditto for the Vince Lombardi Trophy and the WNBA Championship Trophy, too.

Hockey does it differently. There’s only one Stanley Cup. You may not get to keep it forever, but you do get to participate in one of the most beautiful traditions in sports: the summer-long ritual where everyone on the championship team gets a full day with the Cup.

Every player on the roster gets a day. Coaches get a day. Key front-office staff get a day. Even trainers and scouts get some time.

Which means that, over the years, the Stanley Cup has doubled as a dog carrier, a cereal bowl, a beer stein, and a baptismal font. It has traveled to countless American hometowns, as well as to Mongolia, Afghanistan, and the Arctic Circle. It’s visited hunting cabins, frat houses, hospitals, mosques, and churches. It’s been on fishing trips and to the movies. Someone even took it to a strip club, which the Keeper of the Cup (yes, that’s a real job) did not appreciate.

I think there’s a lot to love about—and to learn from—this tradition.

First, it celebrates the spirit of celebration itself. You’ve worked hard and won a championship! Take a moment to fully revel in the win before you rush ahead to get started on your next season.

Second, while it’s true that there’s no “I” in team, a team is made up of individuals—people whose hard work and unique talents made the victory possible. Mark the occasion as a team, of course. But give the individuals who made it happen a private moment to reflect on their own contributions, too.

I’m a big believer in setting audacious goals—still, it seems unlikely that I’ll bring the Stanley Cup home in this lifetime. If I did though? I’d decant a special bottle of Barolo into the Cup and drink it with my dad over a game of cribbage.

Which brings me to the third and most important takeaway: bring your victories home to your friends and family, the ones who lifted and supported you along the way. In my experience, the wins feel even bigger when you share them with the people who have cheered you on since the beginning.

Have a good service,

Will