The Montreal Victoire’s Walter Cup championship trophy, which went missing during shipment, has been located and returned to the team, as announced by the Professional Women’s Hockey League on Monday. The league expressed gratitude to all involved in the search and to fans for their support, although specific details were not disclosed.
The trophy disappeared last week en route to Lethbridge, Alberta, where it was scheduled to be presented to Victoire forward Dara Greig. While a container arrived, it did not contain the trophy as intended by the PWHL.
In a lighthearted remark, the PWHL mentioned that even the Walter Cup can have its own offseason adventure and eagerly anticipates the Victoire’s celebrations with the cup. The exact circumstances of the trophy’s discovery and disappearance remain unclear, with the league citing that it was “lost in shipment” and collaborating with the shipping company for resolution.
Notably, the missing trophy was not the ceremonial one given to teams during the championship victory on the ice, as that resides permanently at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. The trophy in question was a replica known as the team’s “keeper” cup, a 16-kilogram, 61-centimeter tall model inspired by the original sterling silver Tiffany & Co.-designed Walter Cup.
Montreal earned the cup by triumphing over Ottawa in Game 4 of a series in May, becoming the PWHL’s inaugural Canadian champion after Minnesota clinched the league’s first two titles. The trophy honors PWHL founder Mark Walter and his wife, Kimbra, with Mark Walter, the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, recently finalizing the sale of his majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers.