Mario Della-Savia:«It is very enjoyable to see the smiles on everyone’s face»

Dear fans, as you know, our city did not meet the Stanley Cup last year. Fortunately, Mikhail Sergachev and Tampa Bay Lightning won back-to-back Stanley Cups! Today you will get to know more about those people, who are responsible for the Cup and Trophies. Here is our conversation with the Keeper of the Stanley Cup, Mario Della-Savia.

- Good afternoon, Sir! Could you introduce yourself please!

- Certainly, I am Mario Della-Savia with the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Canada.

- Could explain what is your job?

- I am one of the keepers of the cup and also the other trophies of the NHL we travel around the world when the hockey club wins the Stanley Cup and we bring the cup in player’s hometowns.

- How hard is your job?

- No, it is not hard, it is very exciting, a long days but it is very enjoyable to see the smiles on everyone’s face.

- How many countries have you traveled?

- I have traveled about 4-5 countries, the Stanley Cup has travelled 27 countries.

- How long have you been working here?

- I have been working for the hockey hall of fame for 10 years.

- You have a huge experience!

- I think I do. I have been very fortunate to go with Ovechkin, with Malkin, with this fine young gentlemen (Sergachev and Vasilevskiy), Sidney Crosby and also the great other players in the league.

- Is there any difference between travels with the Russian guys and North-America or Europe guys?

- Not really, I mean, everybody has the wonderful family, their parents, their grandparents, siblings, different countries have different ways of celebrating.

- Could you tell us more about the trip of Stanley Cup to Nizhnekamsk?

- So, what we have done is we started in Toronto, we went to Frankfurt, from Frankfurt we went to Budapest, and later went to Sweden, Czech and came to Moscow and now we are here. Thankfully, for Aeroflot and all the other airlines they have made a very smooth transition for to get the Stanley Cup and also the Conn Smythe here as well.

- That is why our fans so excited. You are doing a great job!

- Thank you very much; I appreciate it!

- Do you have any ideas what Mikhail or Andrei would like to put in the cup?

- No, I do not actually. Players have been putting champagne and ice cream, caviar, hamburgers, chicken wings - all kind of different things. So, maybe tonight, maybe a little beer, champagne, I am not sure what sort of food they would like to put in.

- Do you remember any funny stories about transition of the cup or celebrations with the Cup?

There is so many different celebrations with the Cup, there is so many people that like to sit at home with Stanley cup and maybe just have a beer or go to their friends or to mother and fathers and their grandparents and just enjoy the day. Other times we were at restaurant, the music was very very loud, and everybody has a good time.

- What did inspire you to be the keeper of the Cup?

- At the beginning, 10 years ago, I volunteered to work at the museum, which is the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, and then one thing led to another and I started to travel with junior trophies, Hart Memorial Trophy, and then one thing led to another and I started to travel with the Stanley Cup.

- That is cool!

- Yeah, a lot of responsibility.

- You are responsible for the Stanley Cup. Who is responsible for the Conn Smythe Trophy?

- Today I am as well. So, I am responsible for both the Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe and the players as well are very responsible for those particular trophies because we do not want anything to happen to them.

- By the way, I thought there are two guards with the Stanley Cup…

- Correct, so my colleague is at the hotel right now just taking some rest because we have been travelling back and forth we had very little sleep last couple of days.

- Will you visit Ufa after Nizhnekamsk?

- Yes, we finish up in Ufa with Andrei Vasilevskiy, then from their will fly to Moscow and from Moscow will fly to New York, from New York we go to Dallas, from Dallas to St. Louis, then we go back to Tampa for the Fan Fest.

- Do you visit this Fan Fest too?

- Yes, we do. So it’s me, my colleague Howie Borrow, Phil Pritchard - Vice-President and Curator of the Hockey Hall of Fame, we all get together because we will sometimes bring the Stanley Cup as well as the Conn Smythe, the Prince of Wales trophy – the Conference Final, as well as any other trophies they might have won that year with the Stanley Cup. So we might even bring the Vezina Trophy, so that all the fans can see the Trophies, so that’s what we do as well.

- Is it hard to take care of the Cup if we compare cities?

- No, North America is a little bit calmer, the lines, they go up, they take a photo and they go, they do not have large groups together. That usually takes close to 8-12 hours to do that.

- Do you have a rest with the first games of the NHL season?

- It is funny that you say that. When NHL drops the puck for Tampa Bay it comes off the road but it goes into a regular NHL schedule, because they are committed for sponsors as well, so we do in Canada or North America, Scotiabank hockey, Hockey Day in Canada, any sort of charity events, we are very much part of.

- What about retired players?

-  You know, player might retire and when he retires, he won the Stanley Cup, he won the Hart Memorial Trophy or the Vezina Trophy or the other Trophies that are part of the NHL, we bring them to showcase to the fans.

- We can say that the Stanley Cup or other Trophies, they are like a part of your life!

- Yes! It is very exciting. Especially when you go to see the older players, because they might not even seen the Stanley Cup for a lot of years or other Trophies.

- Could you point out some traditions of the countries that you have visited?

- I think, being in Europe, being in Russia, being in these parts of the world, Sweden, Czech, the history is so spectacular, not just only because they are Stanley Cup winners, but just the fact that we are going to this places. The players get the excitement, to say hey, I went to the Red Square and I showcased the Stanley Cup.

- Mario, thank you very much! We wish you all the best!

- Thank you too, I appreciate it!