Canadian Hockey League Players Ask to Play for Stanley Cup If NHL Lockout Wipes Out Season

by Dan Duquette Jr. on Tue, Nov 13, 2012 at 1:40PM

Winning the Stanley Cup is one of the greatest moments in all of sports, as each member of the winning team gets a chance to skate around the ice holding the historic trophy. If there’s no NHL season this year, fans would be robbed of that moment — unless the Cup is awarded to a junior hockey league champion.

The Canadian Hockey League Players’ Association has applied to have the Stanley Cup awarded to its champion if there’s no NHL season, according to a tweet from the CHLPA’s account. The plan would be for the best team from the regular season to play the CHL’s postseason victor, with the ultimate sports trophy on the line.

CHLPA has officially submitted application to the Stanley Cup Trustees to allow CHL to compete for the Stanley Cup if NHL lockout continues
—
CHLPA (@theCHLPA) November 13, 2012

The league hopes to award the Stanley Cup in addition to the league’s Memorial Cup, which is annually given to the winner of a four-team round robin tournament involving the winners of the CHL’s three leagues and a host team. While a Canadian court decision actually determined that the Stanley Cup Trustees do not need to award the Cup only to the winner of the NHL, the trustees have said it is only an NHL award and that they would not give it out even without a season.

Still, the CHLPA should get points for trying.