Origin Of A Championship

I was walking along Sparks Street on the 18th of March when I came across a ceremony taking place at the end of the street, across from the War Memorial, beside the main post office, which is currently undergoing renewal work. This was a groundbreaking ceremony of sorts for a sculpture that is to be installed at this location this year, a celebration of hockey's Stanley Cup. The trophy is named for Lord Stanley of Preston, a Governor General of Canada. On March 18th, 1892, at Russell House, which stood on what are now the grounds of the War Memorial, Lord Stanley proposed the idea of a championship to the best hockey team in Canada. 125 years after that day, this ceremony was held to mark the occasion and inaugurate the site. The current Governor General, David Johnston, who can be seen in the blue coat, was present. The tall man to his right is Ottawa's mayor, Jim Watson, and between them is the Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre and Environment Minister, Catherine McKenna. In attendance were organizers behind the project, as well as hockey legends- and a group of boys clad in the jerseys of each present day Canadian team.

I was noticed while taking photos. Given his proximity to the Governor General, this would have to be a Mountie. 

Coming back from running errands nearby, I saw the boys gathered around the Stanley Cup itself, present for the occasion. Usually I refrain from taking photos of children, but journalists were doing so themselves, so I figured it was fair game to do so. This was the first of two days that I saw the Cup- there was an event held elsewhere in the city that weekend that I'll be showing you later this month. This is pretty much as close as I'll ever personally get to it. Regardless of the proximity of a Maple Leafs jersey to the Cup, the drought of the team itself having a Stanley Cup shall (barring any Apocalypse fore-running cataclysm) continue undisturbed.

There are nearby panels on display that show the sculpture that will be placed here later this year. My one concern about this project when I first heard about it was whether or not the sculpture would detract from the War Memorial across the street. This one does not- I had seen some concept designs that would have been the opposite. I rather like the look of this one.

I took this view a bit later in the morning, looking towards the Memorial and the Chateau Laurier. The sculpture will be installed here, in the foreground.

It will be taking the place of this sculpture of a bear, which stood at that location until a few months ago. The bear got moved down the street, where it now stands before the Thomas D'Arcy McGee Building. I think the bear cub and the fish at the bottom are an addition to the sculpture, something that the artist left out of their original project, because I don't remember them being present in the former location.