Cup crazy

By Dan Moynihan
For the Times

Professional hockey’s top prize, the Stanley Cup, may be on the shelf for the time being, but minor-league hockey’s equivalent of championship glory is gaining plenty of attention around the country.
The Calder Cup, awarded to the American Hockey League’s postseason champion, was hauled into the Polonia Bank Flyers Skate Zone on Saturday afternoon, enabling fans to get up close and personal to the second-oldest hockey championship prize in North America.
This is the ninth year that the AHL, in conjunction with the National Hockey League, has showcased the Calder Cup across the United States and Canada.
The 45-pound sterling-silver chalice, named after former NHL commissioner Frank Calder, not only spent a couple of hours at the Skate Zone but also made an appearance at the Wachovia Center during a 76ers game later that night. The cup was a highlight, too, of Philadelphia Phantoms games on March 18 and 20.
According to Rob Madrid, an NHL sales and marketing representative who often accompanies the Calder Cup on its travels, the aim of it all is to drum up interest for the upcoming AHL playoffs. The cup will make stops in 17 cities before the playoffs begin in April.
"We promote the tour as much as we can," said Madrid. "We try to bring (the trophy) to hospitals, schools, rinks . . . we generally leave it up to the (AHL) teams and our office to set up where it goes. When it’s on display at the arena, there are more than one-thousand people passing by it. It gets a positive response wherever it goes."
The tour also is a way to introduce hockey fans to the history behind the trophy and its namesake.
Calder, who served as NHL commissioner from 1917 through 1943, played a huge role in bringing the Canadian pastime to major U.S. cities like Boston, New York, Detroit and Chicago. He also envisioned a minor-league system that would cultivate young hockey players.
As a result of Calder’s vision, the AHL was born in 1937. The trophy was named after him a year later.
"He was very instrumental in starting up (the AHL) and developing new players," Madrid said.
During its existence, 25 cities in the U.S. and Canada have won the Calder Cup. The Hershey Bears hold the record for the most championships among active AHL teams, with eight. Seven of Hershey’s Calder Cup titles were claimed as an affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Phantoms would later become the Flyers’ AHL farm team, winning their first and only Calder Cup in 1998.
There are 18 members of the NHL Hall of Fame who have won the Calder Cup as minor-league players on AHL teams.
Among them are Gerry Cheevers, Johnny Bower, Al Arbour — who won four Stanley Cups as head coach of the New York Islanders — and Larry Robinson, who hoisted Lord Stanley’s chalice six times as a member of the Montreal Canadiens.
Robinson isn’t the only hockey player to have won both Calder and Stanley cups. More than 100 players have accomplished that feat, including current players Kirk Maltby and Martin Lapointe.
Patrick Roy, a likely hall-of-famer and three-time playoff most valuable player, won a Calder Cup before claiming three Stanley Cups as a goalie for the Canadiens and the Colorado Avalanche.
Only four coaches have won both cups, including John Tortorella, whose Tampa Lightning won the Stanley Cup in 2004.
Promoting the Calder Cup tour, along with the upcoming AHL playoffs, may have been easier in previous years. The NHL labor dispute that resulted in cancellation of the current season has soured the hockey fan base in many cities that don’t have a professional or minor-league franchise.
However, as Madrid points out, the AHL has capitalized on the NHL’s absence.
"It’s best for hockey in general to have the NHL going," Madrid said, "but attendance for AHL games is up eight percent this year. We have a great product, but we want to see the NHL get back together. It’s best for the game of hockey.
"Maybe we do get a little bit more exposure because we are the only game playing right now. But we really do need the league."
There are fans who agree with Madrid’s sentiment. John Kahuila, a Holme Circle resident, remains a hockey fan though he harbors some resentment toward the NHL.
"We have seen the Calder Cup before at a Phantoms game at the Spectrum a few years back," Kahuila remembered. "It’s incredible. This trophy has been around for over sixty-seven years. I love hockey at all levels; it’s an awesome game.
"Not seeing hockey on the pro level just kills you. I’ll go back when (the NHL) comes back, but that doesn’t mean I’m not (mad) at them."
His 13-year-old son, John, is not a hockey player but he is a big fan. He misses the NHL, but he’ll take the Phantoms.
"It’s a nice trophy," he said, "and the Phantoms are on it." ••
Dan Moynihan can be reached at dmoynihan@phillynews.com