Lightning receive Stanley Cup rings at private ceremony
Alex Killorn knows Lightning owner Jeff Vinik and his wife, Penny, go all out when it’s time to celebrate.
It’s one reason the veteran forward was so excited about the private ceremony in Tampa where the team received its 2020-21 Stanley Cup rings on Thursday night.
“I don’t wear (my first ring) to get coffee in the morning,” Killorn joked Wednesday. “And when you have events like (Thursday) night, I’ll wear my other ring, so you’ll be able to wear both and that’ll be pretty cool.”
The ceremony, which was longer and more inclusive than last year’s (shortened due to COVID-19 restrictions), marked the last major team event celebrating the second of Tampa Bay’s back-to-back championships. Appropriately, the Stanley Cup also was on hand for the occasion.
The ring, designed by Jostens (which made each of the Lightning’s previous championship rings), features 338 diamonds and 52 sapphires set in 14-karat white gold.
Among the design highlights:
The ring’s top features the Lightning logo created from 30 custom-cut sapphires set atop a bed of 45 brilliant custom-cut and baguette diamonds. The phrase, “Stanley Cup Champions,” accents the top and bottom, with 22 custom-cut sapphire baguettes set underneath. An additional 56 diamonds cascade around the top.
The top flips open to reveal the words, “Cup Parade Repeat,” surrounded by three diamonds, signifying the franchise’s three Stanley Cups. Popular phrases used throughout the season are also included, such as “No. 1 BS,” “Process Over Outcome” and “Work Over Hope.” The underside of the flip-top reads, “Last Day Of School” a reference to the players’ feelings that the playoff games would be their last together as a group before the expansion draft, free agency and salary cap would eat into their roster.
The left side of the ring features the player’s last name and jersey number, with hockey skate marks in the background. On the right side, two Stanley Cups are engraved with the years 2020 and 2021. At the bottom, fans hold a “Go Bolts” sign, a nod to the team clinching the Cup on home ice.
The interior features the Lightning logo created from custom blue ceramic, as well as the series results from the 2021 playoffs, the phrase “Clinching Shutouts” in reference to goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy recording shutouts in five straight series-clinching games going back to the 2020 Cup final, the Lightning’s combined playoff record over the past two seasons (32-13) and each player’s signature.
Lightning fans can purchase replica rings at www.jostens.com/lightning. A limited-edition ring — the most similar in design to the ones the team received — are available for $12,707. Only 88 were created, in honor of Conn Smythe Trophy winner Vasilevskiy, who wears No. 88.
Contact Mari Faiello at mfaiello@tampabay.com. Follow @faiello_mari.
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