The Colorado Avalanche made a very unique bit of NHL history on Sunday night at Amalie Arena.
The Avs reached hockey's mountaintop with a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final. Colorado, as is tradition when a team wins it all, was called on to congregate for a team picture on the ice, but there was a little mishap before the Avs were photographed with their shiny, new hardware.
Colorado right wing Nicolas Aube-Kubel was skating the Cup over to a swarm of teammates when he stumbled and allowed the base of the trophy to hit the ice. As Keeper of the Cup Philip Pritchard revealed during the Avalance's on-ice celebration, Colorado dinged up the trophy quicker than any championship-winning team had before.
"The Avalanche just won the Cup. I don't even know if they had it five minutes and there's a dent at the bottom already. Right in the middle of team photo," Pritchard said in a video shared to the NHL's official Twitter account. "But you know what, it's the third time the Avalanche have won it. I guess we'll have a little chat with them soon and we'll go through the process of how to repair it. But the Stanley Cup tour will go on."
Pritchard added: "I guess it's a new record today at five minutes into the presentation. It's the first time it's ever happened on the ice. More importantly, hopefully that's the only damaged part that happens this summer. It's going to be a great tour."
Perhaps the Avalanche will bounce back and have a blemish-free Cup celebration next June. Colorado currently is the favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook to by the NHL's last team standing in the 2022-23 campaign.
