Where's Stanley?

Photo courtesy of nino63004 at flickr.com

Since June 6th, when the Red Wings won Lord Stanley’s gift to hockey, I hadn’t paid much attention to the cherished chalice’s whereabouts.

Hockey wasn’t even on my mind as I walked through my neighborhood on Thursday afternoon. I was enjoying an unencumbered blue sky and an uplifting Savage Garden tune on my iPod—until Stanley snuck up on me.

Woof! Woof!

My heart raced as I jerked my head to the right. The black beast with a graying muzzle kept barking but did not attack. Like a reluctant forechecker, he kept his distance.

A kid jogged across the street to calm the canine as I continued my walk, steadying my nerves.

Then I turned around.

“What’s his name?” I asked the kid.

“Stanley.”

I squatted and extended my right hand, palm up, toward the dog. Stanley padded along the pavement. Upon reaching me, he licked my hand and then let me pet him.


Since Thursday, I’ve passed Stanley’s place three times, hoping to touch—or at least see—him again. No such luck.

Where’s Stanley?

The encounter with the canine has dogged me, triggering thoughts about the other, more storied Stanley—the one that has taken a dip into Mario Lemieux’s pool and from which Clark Gilles’s dog has eaten.

So where’s Stanley?

From Hockeytown to Tinseltown to Toronto, the Stanley Cup has been busy on the entertainment circuit: Stanley has made appearances at Cheli’s, on The Tonight Show, at the Love Guru movie premiere, and on the NHL Awards Show.

I don’t know where the dog or the Cup is now, but I’m going to keep checking the street where my new dog friend lives and the Web address tracking the Cup’s summer travels.