Created: 1893 in Canada

Awarded To: Team that wins the playoff championship in the National Hockey League

Current Champion: Chicago Blackhawks

Hockey betting enthusiasts have come to love betting on the chase by all 30 National Hockey League clubs vying for possession over the Stanley Cup trophy. Deemed by many as the Holy Grail of sports, since its inception in 1893, the Stanley Cup has become synonymous with the most difficult task to accomplish.

The Stanley Cup was first battled over by the Montreal Hockey Club and the Ottawa Generals in 1894, a game in which the Montreal squad won three to one. From the first ever Stanley Cup victory in 1894, to about 1967, it was easier for teams to win back to back Stanley Cups. However in 1967, the NHL had expanded from six teams to 12 teams which then made it harder for one team to dominate the league.

Prior to expansion in the late 1960s, three of the most dominant teams in the National Hockey League, included the Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs. Going into this past season, no team had won more Stanley Cups then the Montreal Canadiens, who in their 100 year history have won 24 Stanley Cups. In all of the big four sports, the Canadiens are the second most championship filled team aside from baseball's New York Yankees who have won an astounding 27 World Series championship titles.

From 1926 until 1967 the NHL was made up of only six teams, who all still play in the league today now made up of 30 teams. The original six teams of the league who battled over the Stanley Cup are Detroit, Boston, Montreal, Chicago, New York, and Toronto. Of the six teams, prior to the start of last season, Toronto and Chicago had gone the longest without winning a Stanley Cup in the expansion era NHL. However this past season, the Blackhawks, proving that winning the Stanley Cup is no easy task, finally broke out of a zero for 49 slump, by laying claim to their first Championship since 1961. Now the Toronto Maple Leafs who have not won a cup since the season before expansion, 1966-1967 remain the one team with the longest drought without a Stanley Cup.