No Hoax: Capitals, Not Flyers Engraved on NHL Trophy
Brendan Millhouser
It's no hoax. Someone messed up and engraved the Washington Capitals instead of the Philadelphia Flyers on the Prince of Wales trophy. That trophy goes to the Eastern Conference Champions each year -- our rightful title after beating the Montreal Canadiens last season.
Not only was the Hockey Hall of Fame slow to own up to the error, according to Yahoo Sports, it took a Blackhawks fan (embarrassingly enough) to spot it.
Brendan Millhouser noticed the mistake when he was checking out the display of trophies from the Hockey Hall of Fame. He took a few pictures and alerted Chicago media but no one picked up on the story.
"I was getting frustrated as a fan. . .I had my family look at the pictures for me, {saying] 'Can you guys tell me I'm not crazy?' " Millhouser told Puck Daddy blogger Greg Wyshynski.
What a shocker when the guy trying to give the sports world a big head up, gets vilified instead of vindicated by a suspicious Comcast Sports Net writer who wrote that Brendan's photos were a hoax:
So, we had to wonder: Are these photos truly an engraving error, or just a great example of Photoshop tomfoolery?To get the answer, we went straight to the source and called the Hockey Hall of Fame, where the trophy is currently on display.
And as it turns out, just like we thought, they're fake.
"Like the Stanley Cup," said a Hockey Hall of Fame spokesman, "the Prince of Wales Trophy hasn't been engraved yet. I can guarantee you those photos are doctored."
WRONG! The photos are accurate, but Brendan had to start defending his own reputation online and blogger Greg finally got the HOF to admit the mistake.
"My guess is that not all trophies were engraved at one time. I think that they wanted to engrave the trophies that were going to Chicago as fast as they could," HOF spokeswoman Kelly Masse told Puck Daddy.
"The Washington Capitals won the President's Trophy [for the league's top regular-season point total]. I think the engraver made a mistake and [mixed up] Prince of Wales and President's Trophy," she said.
A great ending to what Millhouser calls a "surreal experience."
"It feels good, man. I can feel like I'm sane again."
And in case you're wondering, Millhouser is also a big Flyers fan.
"I respect the hell out of the team they have. . .I think I can speak for a lot of folks in Chicago. . .We all hate Chris Pronger but we really respect the team."
Posted Thursday, Aug 12, 2010 - 7:54 AM EST
