Walt Neubrand

Walter Neubrand (born Mississauga, Ontario) is one of three men, called the Keepers of the Cup, currently in charge of keeping and maintaining the Stanley Cup during its many trips around the world.

Early life

Walt was born in Brampton, Ontario where he grew up as an avid hockey fan. He learned how to play the sport on the frozen Credit River during his childhood. Walt also enjoyed playing baseball as a child, but always remained a hockey fan first and foremost.cite web | url=http://www.hhof.com/html/exSCJ04_42.shtml | title=HHOF.com Stanley Cup Journals 2004: 42 | accessdate=2006-08-17] After finishing high school, he went on to study at the University of Waterloo.

Hockey Hall of Fame

After graduating from university, Walt got a job working for the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1995, where he started out working as a guest services associate. In 1997, however, Walt got to work with the Stanley Cup for the first time when he was asked to help accompany the Cup to Scotty Bowman's home in New York after his team, the Detroit Red Wings, had won the 1997 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Aside from a brief absence in 2000, he has been a Keeper of the Cup ever since.

In 1999, Walt would accompany the cup to Tampa Bay, where the 1999 NHL All-Star Game was taking place. It was here where he met his wife Laura for the first time, the two later married on August 23, 2003.

The year 2000 saw Walt leave the Hockey Hall of Fame to become a police officer. He would go on to graduate from the academy he attended, but realized soon after that being a police officer wasn't the right career choice for him, and promptly returned to his former position.

Currently, Walt is one of three Keepers of the Cup (the other two being Phil Pritchard and Mike Bolt), who share the duties of the Keeper on a rotational basis. During his time off, Walt is a teacher in Mississauga.

Trivia

* Walt claims one of his favourite trips with the Cup was to Rankin Inlet, Nunavut for an ice hockey tournament in 2000.cite web | url=http://www.nhl.com/cup/travels/cupkeeper070203.html | title=NHL.com On the road with Stanley | accessdate=2006-08-17]

Notes