Kenora Thistles
Donated in 1892 by Lord Stanley of Preston, the Governor General of Canada, the Stanley Cup was originally awarded to the top amateur team in Canada, who would then accept challenges from the winners of other leagues. From its inception until 1912, the Cup was nearly always won by teams from Montreal, Winnipeg, and Ottawa. In 1903 Ottawa won the Cup, after finishing the season tied for first in the Canadian Amateur Hockey League with the Montreal Victorias. They played a two-game, total-goal series for the league championship. The Montreal Hockey Club, who had held the Cup, finished third in the league and therefore lost the right to keep it.
Marcel Pronovost
The Red Wings again won the Stanley Cup in 1951–52, defeating the Montreal Canadiens in the final. It was Pronovost's first full season in the NHL; he appeared in 69 regular season games and eight more in the playoffs. The Red Wings set a record that post-season by winning all eight games played – four by shutout – and the series spawned the Legend of the Octopus. When an octopus was thrown onto the ice near the end of the clinching game (the eight tentacles meant to represent the eight wins required to win the Stanley Cup at that time), Pronovost was the only player willing to pick it up and remove it. He won his third and fourth Stanley Cup championships in 1953–54 and 1954–55 and played his second and third All-Star Games after each victory. Pronovost's 34 points in 1954–55 were the most of his NHL career. He also played in an ill-fated game in Montreal on March 17, 1955, in which fan anger over the NHL's suspension of Maurice Richard precipitated the Richard Riot. Awarded a forfeit victory in that game, Pronovost and the Red Wings won their final game of the season, also against Montreal, to clinch top spot in the NHL standings for a record seventh consecutive season.