Whilst stumbling about the internet looking for hockey related good news, I stumbled across this site Basically, their case is that the NHL does not own the Stanley Cup, and if the NHL does not play for it, some other teams get a chance. I think they make some excellent points, and I’d like it very much if they’re correct.
Can the Stanley Cup be played for outside the NHL? Should it be?
Yes and yes.
Who’ll win the Stanley Cup? The same team that won the 1994 World Series, of course! 
I’m no lawyer but I have read a lot of history about hockey and the idea is basically correct, that the NHL does not own the Cup, and only has an agreement to award it to its champion as long as it is in existance. I think if there isn’t an NHL season, that it should be awarded to another league and/or team (perhaps not on a permanent basis, but anyway). My idea thought would be to get back to the Cup’s roots and have a open invitation. Got a team? Bring it on down.
I can, however, see the cup not being awarded this year even if the NHL doesn’t go, for political/legal reasons. Bettman would no doubt put up a fight, which even if he lost, could hold the process up enough that it would be too late.
Not gonna happen. It’d damage the NHL even more, and who really wants to see the greatest trophy in sports awarded to some random team as a consolation prize?
Well, it’s been 100 years since the Dawson City Nuggets gave it a shot. I think this might be their year. From here…
london knights (ohl) aren’t doin too shabby. only setting chl records and stuff.
it’d be cool to see the mem cup winner play allan cup winner, or the top university team for the stanley cup if there is no nhl season (or two)
The link says the trustees handed over complete control to the NHL in 1947, but it doesn’t say that the board of trustees continued its existence. Who *are * these people now, if there are any alive, and what do *they * say?
Excellent question. I don’t know. The site does refer to the “current trustees” without actually saying whether any trustees actually exist. Since they’re trying to get up some sort of election, that implies that there are no trustees at the moment.
If the NHL wants to cut its own throat, that’s the NHL’s problem, isn’t it? The Cup wouldn’t be awarded to a random team, it would be awarded to the best hockey team in Canada. I’m all for it.
The Manitoba Moose are the current leading contenders, then. So what if they don’t win the AHL Calder Cup - the good citizens of Winnipeg could be consoled with the Stanley instead.
Sorry, doesn’t work.
In the Spirit of the Cup it should be awarded to the best team in Canada!! By God if there are several competeing legues take the best of each and have 'em play it out for the Cup. Have the team’s name and the palyers names engraved and add a new piece of wonderful Lore to the Greatest Trophy in Sports History!
Oh yeah and Screw the NHL! They may think they are Hockey in this nation, but Hockey is much bigger than one League!
They should make it a free-for-all sort of thing, kind of like the FA Cup. It would be fun to watch a bunch of semi-pro and university teams fighting it out for a one-time shot a glory. More fun than the NHL, by a long shot. In the unlikely event the NHL comes back late this year, the teams could be thrown into the mix. No time for training camp. Just lace 'em up and go. Single elimination.
Although if the Minnesota Gophers won the cup, I fear the entire campus would be burned down.
The way I understand it is that as long as the NHL is in existence, no one else gots a shot at the cup, even if there is no season. This is not without precedent. Theer was no cup awarded in 1919 when a Spanish influenza epidemic interrupted the finals. The cup was awarded the following year as normal with the 1918 winners (Toronto Arenas) playing the season as defending champions.
So no NHL season does not mean the forfeit of the cup to any team or tournament, amateur or other.
the '47 agreement says the nhl gets to award the cup exclusively to one of its teams, as long as it is the premier professional hockey league in the world.
if the nhl ain’t playin this year, they can hardly claim to still be the premier professional league. the trustees (yes they are still around) should award the cup to someone else. its only the right thing to do.
btw, london knights currently 43gp, 38-3-2-0, 174 gf, 84 ga, 78 pts.
The fact that the NHL is not playing does not change the fact that it remains the premier professional hockey league in the world. The NHL still exists so it retains the top status until someone can show that kids in small town Canada are dreaming of playing in the Swedish Elite League or the Russian Super League 
If/when the NHL resumes play, all the players in other leagues will come back. Why? Because the NHL is the best place to showcase their talent (read that as “get paid”). Its appeal to players around the world makes it the best league in existence, actively playing or not.
As an aside, London is a great junior team.
How can they be the premier league if they’re not playing? And how long do they have to not play for you to agree that they’re not anymore? This season looks lost; there’s no reason to be optomistic about next season - at some point the NHL is out of it.
I fully agree with kingpengvin’s comment: having an excellent minor league, junior, or college team win the Cup this year can only add to the lore.
There’s more than a few current NHL players who wish they could play in Russia right about now. Know what Ak Bars Kazan is paying Vincent LeCavalier and Paul Richards this season?
what it said on that site, via [url=]this pdf of their legal opinion, is:
Fixed bob’s link.
thanks. sorry 'bout that.
I have not read the '47 agreement but I have not heard of any restriction that states that the NHL must actively compete every year. Barring a major shift in global hockey power, as long as the NHL exists it will be the premier league. Virtually every respectable league got a little better as NHL players signed on for this season. Those same NHL players will leave those teams the moment the NHL and the NHLPA come to an agreement. The NHL still exists and NHL players are still have contracts with their respective teams. Any league benefitting from the NHL dispute has no claim to the NHL players presently on their rosters that extends past this work stoppage (although some European teams stated they would fight this). The NHL players are filling temporary positions, like a hobby one picks up while on vacation. You still have a real job back home.
From the site:
If I understand this correctly, the trustees have to declare that the NHL is no longer the “World’s leading professional hockey league”. Until such time, they do not have any power in terms of allowing other (lesser) teams to compete for the cup.