Stanley Cup

American  

noun

Ice Hockey.

1. a trophy emblematic since 1926 of the championship of the National Hockey League, composed of Canadian and U.S. professional teams.

2. the best-of-seven-games series in which the champion of the Prince of Wales Conference and that from the Clarence S. Campbell Conference oppose each other for this trophy.

---

Stanley Cup British  

noun

1. (in North America) the trophy presented annually to the champions of the National Hockey League

---

Etymology

Origin of Stanley Cup

Named after Frederick Arthur, Lord Stanley of Preston (1841–1908), governor general of Canada, who donated the trophy for the best amateur team of the 1893–94 season

Example Sentences

Smith, who rallied the Kings into the playoffs after taking over for Jim Hiller with 23 games left in the regular season, is making his Stanley Cup playoff debut as a head coach.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 25, 2026

“Must-win game,” agreed defenseman Drew Doughty, who hasn’t played on a winning team in a playoff series since the Kings last won the Stanley Cup in 2014.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2026

But after a pair of hard-fought 2-1 wins at home, the Avs have a chance to sweep a playoff series for the first time since 2022, when they won their last Stanley Cup.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2026

Despite starting the season at the bottom of the NHL standings, the reinvigorated Buffalo Sabres are heading to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2011.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026

Seattle sports had once risen briefly to international prominence, in 1917, when the city’s professional hockey team, the Metropolitans, became the first American team to win the Stanley Cup, defeating the Montreal Canadiens.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown