Every time a team wins the Stanley Cup, the names of its players and personnel are engraved on the Cup for eternity. At some point, the Cup will run out of room for more names. Has anyone estimated when this will occur, assuming that the engraving letter size stays the same?
There’s already been several rings of names removed from the Cup. They are kept at the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Here is an article from the Hockey Hall of Fame website about the most recent band to be retired and including pictures of it.
-16 years.
From the article Dewey Finn cited…
I loathe hockey, and I must say that was one of the best and most informative sports articles I have ever read. Fascinating.
The other interesting thing about the Stanley Cup is that each member of the winning team gets to take it home for 24 hours. Some players just take it home while others take it to a children’s hospital, and it’s also traveled a lot elsewhere. There was a story on CBS New Sunday Morning that described this tradition and included the guy who is the chaperone for the Cup.
But is it true that you’re not a real hockey player until you fill the Stanley Cup with beer and chug the whole thing?
Only players ignorant of the Cup’s history drink from it. Those who respect history know that several babies have peed in the Cup over the years. :o
Well it’s not like they don’t clean it…
Capacity: 14 beers. 
In the raucus days of the Oilers dynasty, legend has it that the cup had almost been lost a couple of times because drunken players left it in a bar or otherwise misplaced it. For such a valuable artifact, it’s amazing that the players are just able to pack it up and haul it around with them. I imagine it’s had a lot of dings and dents repaired over the years.