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Stanley Cup Could Use Spell Check

By Mat Probasco,  Newser Staff

Posted May 21, 2009 7:50 AM CDT

(Newser) – As hulking as NHL players may seem on ice, they can be even more daunting to etch in silver, reports the Wall Street Journal in a look at the quirky typos that decorate hockey's storied Stanley Cup. An influx of Eastern European and Scandinavian players has the league's official silversmith quaking, hoping not to become an unfortunate part of hockey lore while engraving names such as Ruslan Fedotenko, Dustin Byfuglien, or Niklas Hjalmarsson.

"With the Russians' names, you have to double-check and re-check again," says the Cup's exclusive silversmith since 1989. "Sometimes you go, 'Oh, is that how it's spelled?' " Each year she painstakingly hammers 52 names by hand (laser engraving might save the goofs, but the League won't forsake tradition) onto the Stanley Cup, but she and her predecessors haven't always had perfect results. "Boston" was spelled "Bqstqn." "Leafs" became "Leaes." And "Islanders" ended up as "Ilanders."

Spelling mistakes are common on the NHL's Stanley Cup and date back to at least the 1930s.
Spelling mistakes are common on the NHL's Stanley Cup and date back to at least the 1930s.   (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Dallas Drake's name probably wasn't too hard to engrave on the Stanley Cup, but Niklas Hjalmarsson or Ruslan Fedotenko could be difficult for engravers that have spelled Boston as Bqstqn.
Dallas Drake's name probably wasn't too hard to engrave on the Stanley Cup, but Niklas Hjalmarsson or Ruslan Fedotenko could be difficult for engravers that have spelled "Boston" as "Bqstqn."   (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn, File)
With its history of spelling blunders, Detroit Red Wings' goaltender Chris Osgood may have held his breath wondering how many Os would wind up in his name on the Stanley Cup.
With its history of spelling blunders, Detroit Red Wings' goaltender Chris Osgood may have held his breath wondering how many Os would wind up in his name on the Stanley Cup.   (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
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COMMENTS
Showing 1 of 1 comment
laslow
May 22, 2009 3:53 AM CDT
Eh, the misspellings and little nicks on the trophy are what make it such a special trophy. Full of history.

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