Cup imitations runneth over: Fans create a host of replicas
Lightning fans have created a veritable variety of Stanley Cup replicas to demonstrate their love for these hot guys on ice.
By BRADY DENNIS
Published May 22, 2004
[Times photo: Douglas Clifford]
With her dad Mike Griffin, left, and friend Liza Schneider, right, Madeline Griffin of Lithia holds aloft a replica of the Stanley Cup as they celebrate the Lightning's April 25 playoff victory over the Montreal Canadiens. Fans have been toting their own creations of the Cup to cheer the team on to finals. Lightning: Who wants it more? Gary Shelton: Biggest event in Tampa history will end with one hero, one goat Tonight: Lightning vs. Flyers: 7pm, ESPN2; WDAE-AM 620
TAMPA - First intermission, Tampa Bay ahead 1-0, and already a lot of beer has disappeared up in Section 313.
John Edwards wears his usual getup - Lighting jersey, face slathered with blue and white paint. But the centerpiece sits on his head, a hockey helmet with a makeshift Stanley Cup protruding from the top.
His friend and fellow firefighter, Adam Davies, cradles his own miniature Stanley Cup under his right arm.
The Spring Hill men built their replicas with materials from Wal-Mart - plastic foam, duct tape, wooden dowels, tin foil, hot glue.
Beer in hand, Edwards declares homemade Stanley Cups a modern art form. He uses words like "workmanship," "skill" and "patience." He gazes at his creation as if it were a beautiful woman.
"She's built pretty sturdy," the 23-year-old says. "She's been with me all year long."
Edwards and Davies aren't so unusual, hard as that might be to believe. As the Lightning play tonight for a shot at the real Stanley Cup, plenty of imitations in all shapes, sizes and materials will pepper the St. Pete Times Forum.
It should come as no surprise.
After all, the Stanley Cup has long been called the People's Cup. It's just that The People have some pretty peculiar ideas when it comes to their "art."
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A puck's throw from Edwards and Davies in Section 313, Travis Kantaskas cradles the makeshift trophy he doesn't want his mother to read about.
That's because the 20-year-old St. Petersburg man swiped a piece of her Tupperware and attached it atop an empty Zephyrhills water bottle he got from his job at Home Depot.
He wrapped it all in tin foil and Scotch tape, and voila, a pretty respectable Stanley Cup. He built a similar replica last year before trashing it when the Lightning lost in the playoffs.
Kantaskas' advice for making the perfect Stanley:
"You just gotta smooth out the edges. You can't make it look rough," he says. "And pick out the good Tupperware."
Although Section 313 has its share of Stanley Cup replicas, it certainly hasn't cornered the market.
Drift down to Section 123, and you'll find 53-year-old Tarie MacMillan of Lithia toting her own silver cup.
After a trip to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, where MacMillan and her two daughters saw the original Stanley Cup, they returned home to build a family version.
They molded a concoction of plastic, concrete, paper plates, Tupperware, tin foil and clear tape into a heavy but impressive model. They also added each Lighting player's name to the trophy, a bit of wishful foreshadowing.
Trek back up the stairs to Section 321, and there sit Ed and Joy Niklas of Tampa. Diehard Stanley Cup "artists" might consider them cheaters, because they purchased an inflatable cup from the arena's gift shop.
But they have made up for it with imagination, decorating their cup with a beach towel, a pair of giant sunglasses and a sign that reads "Stanley needs a tan!"
"He's all ready to go to the beach," Ed Niklas says.
Shuffle over to Section 316, last row at the top, and there you'll find perhaps the crown jewel of Stanley Cup replicas.
Tim Knaebel, 36, spends his days as a designer at Creative Arts Unlimited in Pinellas Park, turning rough sketches into three-dimensional realities. So it seemed natural for him to take the dimensions of the real Stanley Cup, plug them into a computer and have a machine cut an exact replica out of plastic foam.
After adding silver paint, Knaebel and his brother, Ken, owned the pride of Section 316. It's been to every playoff series so far and only witnessed one losing game.
"It's a good luck charm," says Tim Knaebel.
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There's no shame in replicas.
The Stanley Cup that players hoist above their head and tote around the world these days is a replica itself.
The bowl that currently sits atop the trophy is a copy of the original purchased in the early 1890s by Lord Stanley, the Earl of Preston and governor general of Canada. It now resides in the Hall of Fame in Toronto, after it grew brittle and was retired in 1969.
The modern cup stands at 351/4 inches and weighs 341/2 pounds. Every year, members of the championship team are granted 24 hours each with the cup. And oh, the places it has seen.
It has been in television commercials and made appearances on David Letterman and Jay Leno. It has visited the White House and the Kremlin.
It has been to opening day at Yankee Stadium, the Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago and on a snowmobile trip through Minnesota. It has been to the top of mountains and the bottom of swimming pools.
It has been used as a baptismal font and a flower pot.
According to the National Hockey League, the trophy has traveled more than 400,000 miles during the past five seasons. It has seen the world. And more important, the people have seen it.
"It's definitely the fans' trophy," said Ken Lehner, vice president of marketing for the Lightning. "Other sports might be more popular than hockey, but the Stanley Cup is definitely the most popular trophy in all of sports.
"It's a wonderful part of our sport."
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Homemade Stanley Cups share this much with the real thing: They saddle their owners with unshakeable superstitions.
Today, as game time nears, John Edwards will pull his helmet-top Stanley from its "very secure place" and give it a good inspection.
"You gotta keep her clean, game ready," Edwards says. "Put a fresh coat of tape on her. You want her to look like she's rarin' to go."
The brothers Knaebel will grab their plastic foam cup from its resting spot beside the bubble hockey table inside Ken's game room. They will lug it up the stairs to the last row of Section 316, where it will sit between them while they stand the entire game.
Travis Kantaskas will bring his creation, the one built around the Tupperware he stole from his mother. It rides shotgun with him in his Chevy Silverado pickup. He makes sure always to fasten its seat belt.
And Adam Davies will arrive, faithfully, wearing an old firefighter's helmet and lugging his replica Stanley Cup. Unlike most others, he refuses to raise it above shoulder level, even after a Lightning goal or a Philadelphia penalty.
He's convinced it's bad luck.
"You have to wait until they win (the real Stanley Cup) until you celebrate," he says.
