(l-r) Mr. Jim Litwin, Principal; Mr. Wayne Petersen, Minnesota Wild; Mr. Brad Bombardir (former NHL Player/Stanley Cup Winner), Minnesota Wild; Ms. Amy Kortuem, 4th Grade Teacher

(Note: Scroll to bottom of page to view a complete photo album of the day)

Tuesday, April 17th, started like a typical day at Horace Mann School and by 8:20 a.m. conversations in the hallways ended, locker doors closed, and students (with books in hand) were in their classrooms  concentrating on their studies and focusing on doing their best!

By 10 a.m. the 3rd - 6th grade classes were working hard and deep in thought taking their required MCA Reading tests.

11:30 a.m. It was lunch time and a well deserved recess outside in the sun.

At 1:20 p.m. Mr. Litwin made the "all call" announcement inviting all the students and their teachers to the cafeteria/gym for a special (1:30 p.m.) presentation by Brad Bombardir, Director Of Wild Community Partnerships and Wayne Petersen, Marketing Department

"An up close view of the Cup"

- Minnesota Wild.

What a surprise!  After visiting the State Capital and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, the NHL "Stanley Cup" made its ONLY PUBLIC APPEARANCE in Minnesota with a special visit to Horace Mann School! 

Both Mr. Petersen and Mr. Bombadir shared history and many unique stories about the "most famous trophy" in the sporting world and then did a wonderful job answering questions from a variety of students from each grade level.

3 p.m. After having an opportunity to pass by the "Cup" and see it up close, it was off to the Exel Center for over 40 Horace Mann School volunteers to hang "Rally Towels" on the 19,000 plus seats in the Xcel Arena. In just over one hours time - the great team of volunteers had the project completed and the Arena was now ready for Game Four of the

The Stanley Cup

NHL Quarterfinal Playoffs!

5 p.m. - 8 p.m. The excitement builds.

8 p.m. The players are introduced, the Star Spangled Banner is sung, the official blows the whistle, and the puck is dropped. The big game begins!

10:30 p.m. The positive energy, the cheers, and enthusiasm of the Horace Mann School students, and over 18,000 fans at the Xcel, obviously poured over into the game as the Minnesota Wild beat the Mighty Ducks handily, 4-1!

Whew! A busy day; a day filled with hard work and learning; a day of surprises; a day full of enthusiasm and excitement for Horace Mann School students and a great win for our wonderful friends and business partner --- the Minnesota Wild.

Let's Go Wild! Let's Go Wild! Let's Go Wild! Let's Go Wild!

Fun Facts about the Stanley

..."Brad, can you show us where your name is engraved?"

Cup! (Source: www.nhl.com)

• Is the most famous trophy in the sporting world
• Was first presented in 1893
• Is the oldest trophy competed for by professional athletes
• Logged more than 400,000 miles in travel during the past five seasons
• Has raised more than $4 million for charity the past three seasons
• Each winning player and team management member gets to take the Cup home for a day to share with family and friends
• Was crafted in Sheffield, England
• Was purchased for 10 guineas ($48.67 at the time) in 1892
• Weighs 35 pounds and stands just under three feet in height
• Is the only trophy in all of sport that is passed along from player to player the summer their team wins it.

Some of the famous places that the Stanley Cup has been:

• Being a guest of George Bush's and Bill Clinton's at the White House in Washington, DC 
• Appearing as

  ...we're almost done placing Rally Towels on the seats in the lower section

  guest on Late Show with David Letterman
• Being invited to opening day at Yankee Stadium
• Being a guest at the Kremlin in Moscow
• Being invited to opening ceremonies at Luzhniki Stadium in Russia
• Being a guest at Horace Mann School (K-6) in St. Paul, Minnesota! 

• Is the only trophy in professional sports that has the names of winning players, coaches, management and club staff engraved on the silver chalice
• Has been won a record 24 times by the Montreal Canadiens and a record 11 times by Henri Richard of Montreal
• In the summer of 1997, the Stanley Cup traveled to Russia for the first time in its history. It was accompanied by Russian members of the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings, including Slava Fetisov, Slava Kozlov and Igor Larionov
• In the spring of 1999, the Stanley Cup was among a list of Hollywood celebrities invited to take part in the 5K Celebrity Run Walk in Los Angeles for Women's Cancer

  Three of the 50 plus volunteers from Horace Mann School who helped prepare the Arena for the game...

  Research
• Travels approximately 250 days per year
• Has appeared on talk shows, including Late Show with David Letterman, Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Meet the Press with Tim Russert, Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, Late Night with Conan O'Brien
• It takes 13 years to fill the ring of the Stanley Cup with names of winners
• Once a bottom ring is full, another one of the same size is removed from the top of the base and retired at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto
• Names misspelled on the Stanley Cup -- Adam Deadmarsh was spelled Deadmarch -- but later was changed; the only misspelled name to be corrected
• Some other misspells on the Cup that never have been corrected: Jacques Plante's name has been misspelled five times, (incl. "Jocko," "Jack" and "Plant"); Bob Gainey was spelled "Gainy" when he was a player for Montreal in the 70s; Ted Kennedy was spelled "Kennedyy" in the 40s; New York Islanders was spelled "Ilanders" in 1980/81; the Toronto Maple Leafs was

  ..."Thank you Horace Mann School" posted on the giant scoreboard at the Exel Energy Center

  spelled "Leaes" in 1962/63; the Boston Bruins was spelled "Bqstqn" in 1972
• Name scratched out - "Basil Pocklington," father of former Edmonton Oilers owner, Peter, put his dad's name on the Stanley Cup in 1983/84; today, on the Cup, one can see a series of "Xs" over his name
• There is only one Stanley Cup -- authenticated by the seal of the Hockey Hall of Fame in the bottom of the Cup; this seal can be seen when winning players lift the Cup over their heads
• There is a second version of the Stanley Cup that remains in the Hall of Fame, which never travels, and is used for display purposes only at the Hall when the Stanley Cup is traveling; this Cup is perfect and has no misspells
• Places that the Stanley Cup has visited: Czech Republic, Sweden, Russia, Finland, Japan, Switzerland, the Bahamas
  Other interesting towns/cities that the Cup has visited: Fishing Lake, AB -- a Native reservation of the Metis Nation four hours from Edmonton; Anchorage, Alaska with Scott

  The Stanly Cup Visit To Horace Mann School was featured on the front page of the Highland Villager

  Gomez; Wawa, Ontario with Chris Simon
• The Stanley Cup has climbed Mt. Elbert in Colorado - 14,433 feet
• As a player, Henri Richard has won the most Stanley Cups with 11
• Overall, no one's name appears on the Stanley Cup more than Jean Beliveau. He has 17: 10 as a player and 7 as management
  In addition to the players' names and teams' names that have won the Stanley Cup, there are two other phrases on the upper bowl of the Stanley Cup. One side says: "Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup" and the other side says: "From Stanley Of Preston".
• To have one's name engraved on the Stanley Cup certain requirements must be met. A player must have at least 41 games played with the club or one game played in the Stanley Cup Finals. However, in 1994 a stipulation was added to allow a team to petition the Commissioner for permission to have players' names put on the Cup if extenuating circumstances prevented them from being available to play.
  

Image Gallery: A "Wild" Day

See all 61 images.