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

A five-time All-Star, Kopitar won the Stanley Cup twice with the Kings in 2012 and 2014.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 14, 2026

He has never won a Stanley Cup or even led the Jets to the finals.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 23, 2026

Bobby Rousseau:, external Canadian ice hockey player was a four-time Stanley Cup champion and claimed Olympic silver in 1960.

From BBC • Dec. 18, 2025

But with a Stanley Cup, an MVP award, a goal-scoring title and two Olympic gold medals in his trophy case, he has a resume few players can match.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 28, 2025

After the first couple of hours of nothing, you stop waiting for somebody to yell “Eureka!” and haul a Brachiosaurus femur out of the dirt, holding it over their head like the Stanley Cup.

From "Linked" by Gordon Korman