Following the Tampa Bay Lightning's sensational victory on June 7, Craig Campbell (left) and Phil Pritchard of the Hockey Hall of Fame carried the Stanley Cup out onto the ice so that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman could present hockey's highest honour to captain Dave Andreychuk.

Walt Neubrand was born in Mississauga, Ontario, just west of Toronto, and learned his hockey on the frozen surface of the Credit River. Although always a hockey fan first and foremost, Neubrand also played baseball through his childhood years. After graduating from the University of Waterloo, Walt joined the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1995, working as a guest services associate. Two years later, Neubrand got his first taste of working with the Stanley Cup. It was following the Detroit Red Wings' 1997 Stanley Cup championship, and Walt was asked to accompany the Stanley Cup to Scotty Bowman's home in New York State.

Neubrand left the Hall of Fame in 2000 to become a police officer. Although he graduated from the academy, Walt realized that being a police officer was not for him, and returned to hockey. Although mild-mannered and easy-going, Walt's police training comes in handy should any incidents occur that involve the Stanley Cup. "I've never had a problem," Walt admits. "Everyone who comes to see the Cup has been nothing but respectful."

As a Keeper of the Cup, your diet veers all over the map, from borscht with Ruslan Fedotenko to lobsters with Brad Richards (left). And in between, a whole lot of coffee to keep you awake.

But being one of the Keepers of the Cup has additional advantages. While accompanying the Stanley Cup to the NHL All-Star Game in Tampa in 1999, Walt met a volunteer from Detroit who would later become his wife. The two introduced themselves, and on August 23, 2003, Walt and Laura were married.

Spending so many days on the road with the Stanley Cup, Walt has seen the trophy in hundreds of different situations. "My favourite trip was taking the Stanley Cup to Rankin Inlet in Nunavut. It was for a hockey tournament," explains Neubrand. "I love the wilderness, and this was an area above the tree line where there were no roads. People in the area are so passionate about hockey that some drove 250 miles by snowmobile just to see the Cup! It was really neat!"

Now that September has arrived and traveling with the Stanley Cup has wound down for another summer, Neubrand returns to being a substitute teacher in Mississauga. "Being the Cup Guy is a great job to have. As long as they allow me to do it, I'm honoured to accompany the greatest trophy in sports — the Stanley Cup."

Also accompanying the Stanley Cup on this summer's odyssey was Mike Bolt, another of the Cup's keepers. Mike was born and raised in the Leaside area of Toronto and played organized hockey in an area rich in hockey heritage — former Leafs Bob Davidson, Cal Gardner, George Armstrong and Carl Brewer have all called the area home. After managing his own cowboy boot and western wear store, Bolt joined the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1995, working on special events and as a guest services associate. His first adventure with the Stanley Cup was a four-hour trip in 1997 to the downtown Toronto headquarters of Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC, just a couple of blocks down the street from the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Through the course of the summer, Mike Bolt travelled to the United States, Canada, Sweden, Russia, the Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, all on three hours sleep! Here, Mike poses with some of the hardware and its deserving winner -- Tampa's Martin St. Louis.

Mike's many memorable experiences with the Stanley Cup include the 24-hour period the Stanley Cup spent in 2001 with Raymond Bourque. "Ray's enthusiasm really illustrated how much the Cup means to players," Bolt relates excitedly. "He really wanted to win. He had a party at the golf club he belongs to. He had special bottles of wine made for the occasion. They were labeled 'Vintage 77' (Bourque's sweater number). He had an ice sculpture fashioned after himself holding the Stanley Cup in the air and each of the table settings had a mini-Stanley Cup. It was amazing!"

In 2002, Bolt joined Chris Chelios after Detroit's Stanley Cup win. "Chris had a great time with the Cup and included me in his celebration, which really made me feel great. There were a lot of interesting characters at his party," smiles Bolt as he reels off names like musician Kid Rock and actors Pamela Anderson, D.B. Sweeney and John Cusack. Chelios took the Stanley Cup to his golf tournament the next day, although neither he nor Mike Bolt golfed. "We were just hanging out at the ninth hole, and Chris had a band playing. Well, Kid Rock came over and started jamming with the band. Unbelievable! He plays concerts for 20,000 people, and here he is performing for Chris Chelios, me and a handful of friends!"

But Mike considers Martin Brodeur's 2000 Stanley Cup celebration at the top of his list of Cup memories. "Brodeur really captured the dream of every kid growing up in Canada when it was his turn with the Cup. In 1995, he got all his childhood buddies together again to play road hockey, just like they used to when they were kids. On the same street, too. And just like years before, they played for the Stanley Cup -- except this time, they really did! Brodeur's road hockey team lost that year," Mike laughs as he retells the story. "Well, in 2000, when the Devils won the Stanley Cup again, Brodeur called for a rematch. He got the same guys together and formed the same teams. He pulled out the same old battered net -- it was held together with duct tape and had been through the wars and then some. This time, Brodeur's team won. But Martin told me the irony of the street hockey game. When he was a kid, the neighbours used to yell at them to get off the street, sometimes the cops would be called and his Mom tried to get him to throw the net out. Here he is twenty years later using the same net, the cops have blocked off the street so the guys can play and the neighbours are all out on the street cheering them on. Hilarious!"

Mike Bolt sums up his role as the custodian who accompanies the Stanley Cup, saying "Every day is a special day when you're with the guys who have won the Stanley Cup. It's been every kid's dream, and the players are no different than any of us; they are living that dream. Watching them with the Stanley Cup is amazing. That part of the job never gets old!"

Exactly what does the person who accompanies the Stanley Cup do? If you have thirty seconds, and have seen MasterCard's award-winning 'Priceless' commercial featuring the Stanley Cup and Phil Pritchard, you get a pretty good idea -- wherever the Cup goes, the Keeper goes. It's that simple -- or that complex.

Although Phil Pritchard's principal duties involve the day-to-day running of the Hockey Hall of Fame, he finds time to get out on the road with the Stanley Cup from time-to-time through the course of the year. Here, he helps Dave Andreychuk prepare for a parade through Disney World.

Philip Pritchard is the Vice President of Hockey Operations at the Hockey Hall of Fame. Born in Oakville, Ontario, Phil's hockey career began later than that of most Canadian boys. His British-born parents weren't raised with Canadian customs like hockey, so after playing road hockey with his pals for a number of years, Phil was finally able to convince his Mom and Dad to register him for ice hockey, and at 13 years of age (six or seven years later than most of his peers), he began playing Bantam. Pritchard had discovered his passion, and now not only works in the hockey industry, but plays ice hockey and ball hockey year round.

Phil distinctly remembers the genesis of his love for hockey. "In 1969, there was a Boston/Montreal game on the radio. I was listening to it and loving it, but my Dad taped the game too. I still have that tape at home," grins the Hall of Fame's curator. Phil's first brush with the Hockey Hall of Fame occurred shortly afterwards. "In 1971, I dragged my Dad to the (Canadian National) Exhibition so I could go to the Hall of Fame. Phil Roberto was signing autographs that day and the Montreal Canadiens had just won the Stanley Cup. I stood in line with all the other kids and met Phil Roberto. I've kept his autograph too, and ran into him not long ago. I told him the story and he laughed. He remembered the day -- it was the only day he ever signed at the Hockey Hall of Fame!"

On September 24, 1988, Ben Johnson won the gold medal in the 100m sprint at the Seoul Olympics. "No one can take it away from me," said the sprinter with more than just a bit of irony at the time. But the following Monday, the Olympic committee did just that, stripping Johnson of his gold medal. "I'll never forget that day," mentions Pritchard. "That was the day I started at the Hockey Hall of Fame." Phil was one of eight employees, and the Marketing Administrative Co-ordinator found himself working at reception, in the gift shop and doing anything he could to promote the Hockey Hall of Fame. "In October 1988, Jeff Denomme (now the Hockey Hall of Fame's president and COO) and I took the Stanley Cup to the Newmarket Minor Hockey Association's annual banquet. People were thrilled. That was the first time I ever held the Stanley Cup." Since then, Pritchard has been around the world, traveling more than a hundred days each year with hockey's most cherished prize. "History is being made every time the Cup goes out, and I am honoured to be part of that history," admits the modest Pritchard. Often, Phil is almost as well known as the subject he's traveling with. "Mom, look. It's the guy with the Cup from the commercial," kids announce, and Pritchard graciously, if not shyly, has his picture taken with the children or shakes their hands. Many want to know where his white gloves are, and Phil readily pulls a pair out from his pocket. "I go through a lot of gloves each year," he smirks.

It is nearly impossible for Phil Pritchard to isolate a single trip with the Stanley Cup that was more meaningful than the others, but he does show a genuine enthusiasm for the Stanley Cup's first trip to Russia. "After the Red Wings won the Cup in 1997, plans were made for Igor Larionov, Slava Kozlov and Viacheslav Fetisov to take the Stanley Cup to Russia for the first time. When we got there, the players took the Cup off the plane. It was a rainy, dreary day, but there were thousands of people there to see the Stanley Cup. Fetisov walked the Cup over to the chain link fence and people stuck their fingers through it to touch the Cup. It was absolutely amazing! These people knew their hockey inside out and really appreciated the legacy of the Stanley Cup. We were in Russia for five days, and visited Lenin's Tomb, Red Square and a lot of historic places." Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov admitted, "I am not a hockey expert but I am sure that the Stanley Cup is one of the most prestigious awards in the world of sport." Phil continues, "We took the Cup to Larionov's hometown of Voskresensk too."

Pritchard has never lost his boyhood excitement for either hockey or for the Stanley Cup. "No matter whether it's little kids or adults playing a kids' game, the reaction is the same," states the Hall's V-P. "In today's world, it is wonderful to be able to do something that makes people smile. Whether it is a visit to a player's hometown or taking the Stanley Cup to Sick Children's Hospital, it is the greatest feeling in the world to know that what you do makes someone smile. Everyone has a special place in their heart for the Stanley Cup!"