Air Canada can even lose the Stanley Cup!

[Aerich]

Link is here

Apparently the flight to Fort St John (a small town in northern BC) was too heavy for the Stanley Cup. Air Canada must have had too much luggage that was supposed to go to St John's, Nfld.
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Vancouver — The Stanley Cup has survived a lot in its storied history, but it couldn't survive an Air Canada flight from Vancouver to Fort St. John, B.C..

Just like any ordinary suitcase laden with socks and underwear, the Stanley Cup went missing.

When fabled Cup custodian Walter Neubrand went to collect it along with his baggage in Fort St. John on Sunday night, it was nowhere in sight.

Unknown to Mr. Neubrand, an Air Canada employee who had no idea the large blue crate contained perhaps the most recognizable trophy in all of sports had bumped it off the plane because the packed flight was overweight.

The Cup did not turn up in the Peace River city until yesterday morning; the scheduled four-hour display time was cut in half.

Left disappointed were hundreds of hockey fans who had hoped to get up close and personal with Lord Stanley's mug at several private gatherings the night before.

Many were miffed at Air Canada's gaffe. "It's not like this was a brown paper bag," said local fitness club operator Brent Lock. "The Stanley Cup is the holy grail."

William Julian, publisher of the Alaska Highway News, which co-sponsored the Cup's public appearance in Fort St. John, said the airline's mistake was inexcusable.

"The Stanley Cup is the most important non-religious artifact in Canada. For Air Canada to pull something like that off the plane is just ridiculous."

But no one felt worse than Mr. Neubrand, entrusted by the Hockey Hall of Fame to look after the Cup in its travels and celebrated in commercials for never letting the silvered sporting treasure leave his side. "He was distraught," said Jake Goertzen, head scout of the Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning, who met Mr. Neubrand at the airport. "It's his responsibility to deliver the Cup, and he takes his job very seriously. It was a nightmare."

Mr. Neubrand said he told the ticket agent when he checked in that the blue box contained the Cup. "She got all excited and said she'd tell the baggage people, but something went wrong. Obviously we don't stamp 'Stanley Cup' on the outside."

When the Cup was a no-show at the airport, Air Canada staff searched the Dash 8 aircraft before learning that the trophy had never left the ground. Air Canada spokeswoman Angela Mah said the airline is "absolutely mortified" by what happened. "We would certainly like to apologize to any fans who were disappointed and we are doing an internal review to see what happened."

Of course, the Fort. St. John fiasco is only a blip in a litany of abuse and close calls in the Cup's 111-year history. Mark Messier took it to a number of strip clubs after the New York Rangers won the Cup in 1994, another player christened his baby in the bowl on top of it, dogs have eaten out of it, one brainiac urinated in it, and in 1924, a bunch of players drove off after changing a flat tire and left it in a snowbank.

It was still there when they returned hours later.

Yesterday, Mr. Neubrand was feeling better as he accompanied the Cup to Saskatoon. "It was never lost," he said. "It was misplaced. I just felt disappointed for the fans in Fort St. John."

[pritchke]

If I had the opportunity I would never drink from the cup. [img]graemlins/1puke.gif[/img]

[ 08-24-2004, 12:33 PM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

[Djinn Raffo]

Originally posted by William Julian: "The Stanley Cup is the most important non-religious artifact in Canada."

That is all.

[Aerich]

Originally posted by pritchke: If I had the opportunity I would never drink from the cup. [img]graemlins/1puke.gif[/img]

Well they do clean it. But I would have a hard time getting over the psychological hurdle of drinking something yellow out of it, like beer or champagne. [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img]