The Stanley Cup, the most coveted trophy in hockey, visited the studios of KIRO and KTTH in Seattle while on tour. The trophy’s white-gloved custodian arrived with it.
Howie Borrow, one of the seven official “Keepers of the Cup,” said on the Gee & Ursula Show, “I never, ever thought that this would be a job or something I could do, but to go to the places that we go all around the world and see happy faces and hear stories from people that are just great hockey fans.” They want to tell us their stories. I feel incredibly fortunate and proud to have this opportunity. There isn’t anything else like it, that much is true.
The keeper of the Stanley Cup predicted that the Seattle Kraken will win Game 7 of their playoff series against the Dallas Stars while being cornered by hosts Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin of KIRO Newsradio.
“I don’t know if that’s fair to ask me that. I don’t have any kind of a magic ball or anything,” Borrow said. But after squirming a bit — and Gee pressing him — Borrow proclaimed, “They are playing well. It’s amazing, just in their second year of existence. And they’re getting close to the Stanley Cup. I would think they’re going to be pretty loose tonight. They have nothing to lose. They weren’t expected to be where they are. So now that they are, just play hard and have fun and just see where it takes them.”
“So, you think the Kraken are going to win?” Gee asked.
Borrow said, “I think so,” to cheers.
Working part-time at the Toronto-based NHL Hall of Fame, where he started touring with some of the other league’s historic artifacts, Borrow gained his start with the organization.
“I had great luck. I began volunteering at the Hall of Fame in 2004,” stated Borrow. “I only wanted to discuss hockey with other supporters. After that, I started working on the weekends in part-time hours before eventually traveling with further awards and antiques. I was subsequently asked in 2009 whether I wanted to begin touring with the cup. So it was perfect timing and venue.
Borrow travels with the cup and said that with joy, comes some challenges. The cup is sterling silver, over three feet tall, and weighs 37 pounds.
“Sometimes, when people see the cup, they don’t know what to do with themselves. So they want to touch it, hug it, get a photo, and I think sometimes it gets too overcrowded,” Borrow said.
According to Borrow, the NHL champion gets to retain the trophy over the summer, and most frequently, coaches and players love having the trophy around for a day or two.
At 5 o’clock tonight, Game 7 of the deadlocked series between the Seattle Kraken and the Dallas Stars will begin.