Ongoing History Daily: When a metal band nearly destroyed the Stanley Cup

One of the many unique things about the Stanley Cup is that it’s the only major sports trophy that’s given to the team that wins it so they can spend a few months hauling it around to show it off to friends and family. Naturally, this has created some interesting moments.

Back in 1999 after the Dallas Stars won it all, Pantera, the metal band, hosted a pool party for the team. At around five in the morning, Guy Carbonneau of the Stars appeared on a balcony and yelled “Catch the Cup!” And he threw it out into the crowd. It bounced off the side of the pool and then sunk to the bottom. Because it was Pantera’s party, you can get who got most of the blame.

But things were quietly smoothed over and the official story was that someone dropped it when taking it off a plane. It’s only now that Pantera is offering up the real story.