Keeper of the Cup: A Look Inside the Life of Walt Neubrand
Neubrand Delivered the Stanley Cup to Matt Cullen for the third time
MOORHEAD, Minn. — Each of the last two summers, the Stanley Cup has made its pilgrimage to Moorhead, Minnesota. Matt Cullen ensured that by winning the trophy with his Pittsburgh Penguins teammates.
Each player, coach and executive gets one day to spend with the oldest championship trophy in professional sports.
But, delivering it to everyone isn’t always easy, and that role is divvied up between three “Keepers of the Cup.”
One of these men has been with Cullen after all three of his NHL Finals victories, and its his job to keep an eye on things and make sure the 35 pounds of silver can continue to be passed on.
Walt Neubrand has been helping take care of Lord Stanley’s Cup for more than two decades.
It’s a stressful job with big implications, but he doesn’t let that overshadow the fact that every day is a party.
“It’s just a happy occasion,” Neubrand said. “It’s a lot of fun to do. You feel like Santa Claus in a way, bringing it to people.”
Neubrand is at the mercy of whoever has the Cup at any given moment, but that isn’t always a bad thing.
“I’ve been to the Eiffel Tower, I’ve been to the White House, I’ve been overseas,” he said. “Who can complain, really? That’s the neat part about our job. We would never get to go to these places on our own. While we can’t sight-see or do whatever we want when we get there, it’s still a great opportunity to see different places.”
In his 21st summer doing this, Neubrand can choose a little bit as to where he goes. He says picking Matt Cullen and Moorhead was easy.
“The family is so nice,” he said. “They’re welcoming and they make you feel at home. He was the only guy I really asked if I could get from Pittsburgh. It’s an honor to bring it here. He’s very personable, and if you’ve watched him all day, he treated the first person he’s seen today like I’m sure how he’ll treat the last. They’re very gracious people, and it’s special to bring it here for sure.”
While trophies from other sports are remade – with the originals held onto by the champions – the Stanley Cup is unique.
“This one is kind of a perpetual trophy in that it just gets passed on to the next team,” Neubrand said. “This is the same trophy that Bobby Orr hung out with and Gordie Howe and Wayne Gretzky. It’s the same one. There is another version of the Cup, but it just sits in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. So, if you were to go there today, you would see the replica on display, and this is the real one that goes with all the players and the one you see on the ice. I think it has that mystique to it, that when people see it, they know it’s the real one and they’re kind of touching a piece of history.”
