Philip Pritchard

Keeper of the Cup says Capitals ignored precedent after winning championship in Vegas: ‘You don’t celebrate in visitors’ towns’

NBC Sports Washington published an insightful interview on the Capitals’ four-year Cupiversary on Tuesday.

Speaking with Philip Pritchard, the Keeper of the Cup went behind the scenes of how the Capitals celebrated its first championship in the hours immediately after winning.

According to Pritchard, the Capitals did something that prior teams did not do: celebrate in the visitor’s city. The Caps won the Stanley Cup at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

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By Ian Oland 1 year ago

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The Stanley Cup is currently quarantining in Edmonton

In another sign of the times, the Stanley Cup and its keeper, Philip Pritchard, are currently under quarantine in Edmonton before entering the NHL’s bubble.

Pritchard revealed the news on Friday as he documented his trip to the fourth largest city in Canada. The NHL’s Conference Finals are currently being played nearby at Rogers Place.

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By Ian Oland 3 years ago

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Capitals to host pre-game event featuring Keeper of the Cup Phillip Pritchard on November 30

Hockey fans with tickets to Friday’s home game against the New Jersey Devils will have an opportunity to view a special presentation prior to the game.

The Capitals will be hosting an hour-long presentation called “Tales of the Cup,” featuring Philip Pritchard, the Keeper of the Cup at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. Pritchard will talk about the Capitals’ wild summer with Stanley, as well as the history of the Stanley Cup, and will most likely answer some questions from fans as well.

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By Rachel Cohen 5 years ago

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The Capitals invented the Cup stand. The tradition bent the bowl of the Stanley Cup.

Washington Capitals players celebrated their Stanley Cup victory hard in June. There were shirtless fountain celebrations, sloppy parties, drunk tattoos, and Cup stands. Lots and lots of Cup stands. But the Stanley Cup managed to survive without a ding or a scratch.

“The guys were really, really careful that they weren’t going to damage it,” Philip Pritchard, the Keeper of the Cup, said to USA Today’s Michelle R. Martinelli in mid June.

“All Alex’s weight was on [Braden] Holtby and [Brooks] Orpik, they were holding it all. There was no pressure on the Cup or anything,” Pritchard said of the team’s ritual. “And that’s what I think is great about a Stanley Cup champion: they know how hard it is to win, and they’re not going to do anything disrespectful or that can damage the trophy in any way.”

However, in late July, something seemed different about the Cup.

During the Cup’s jaunt through the midwest, new head coach Todd Reirden picked up the championship trophy from its case. Something was noticeably off.

The Stanley Cup’s bowl was bent and misshapen.

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By Cara Bahniuk 5 years ago

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What’s inside the bowl of the Stanley Cup?

For 124 years, the Stanley Cup has been awarded. It’s the oldest existing trophy to be bestowed to a professional franchise in sports. As such, it has taken on a cult of personality unique among metal kitchenware.

But there is so much that we still don’t know about the revered trophy. Thursday afternoon, Philip Pritchard, the Keeper of the Cup, pulled back the figurative curtain and revealed that the Cup is more than a fancy silver bowl that holds Phil Kessel’s hot dogs.

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By Brendan Doyle 6 years ago

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