Lightning players, please don’t toss the Stanley Cup over the Hillsborough River

Someone get Lord Stanley a life preserver.

With a boat parade scheduled Monday to celebrate the Tampa Bay Lightning’s second consecutive championship win, there’s one question on Twitter’s mind: Will they throw the trophy over the river like Tom Brady did during the Super Bowl parade?

First, some stats. The Vince Lombardi Trophy, made of sterling silver, stands at 22 inches tall and weighs 7 pounds. The Stanley Cup, crafted with a silver and nickel alloy, stands 35.25 inches tall and weighs 34.5 pounds.

So if the cup were dropped in the Hillsborough River, could it float?

When Mario Lemieux hosted a team party at his home in 1991, player Phil Bourque wondered if the cup would sink or swim. It ended up at the bottom of the pool, and the incident inspired the title of the book Why Is the Stanley Cup in Mario Lemieux’s Swimming Pool?: How Winners Celebrate with the World’s Most Famous Cup.

According to thehockeywriters.com, the cup took another dive in 1993, sinking again in Patrick Roy’s pool. Fast forward to 2002, when Dominik Hašek tried to bring the cup into the water during his day with it. Cup caretaker Phil Pritchard quickly asked for it back, and that ended Hašek’s day with it.

Will that stop players from hurling the trophy over the river like Brady? Stanley himself seems to have opinions.

“FYI I’m too heavy to throw, @TomBrady,” tweeted the official Stanley Cup account.

“Idk...” he responded. “Everything feels a bit lighter after some tequila 😂 "

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