It's been lost, stolen, highjacked, and even left on a snowbank at the side of the road.

The Stanley Cup, due in town this Saturday for a public visit, has had a colourful life.

The Stanley Cup was first presented in 1893, when Frederick Stanley, Lord Stanley of Preston, donated the funds to purchase a trophy that would be the reward for winning the hockey championship of Canada.

Lord Stanley had arrived in 1888 to serve as Governor-General of Canada, at the appointment of Queen Victoria. He and his family soon became hockey fans, and his sons, Arthur and Algernon, took up the game. They formed a team called the Ottawa Rideau Rebels. Years later, Arthur Stanley helped form the Ontario Hockey Association.

Hockey was still in its infancy and only Montreal and Ottawa had formal leagues, although independent teams played in loose-knit circuits across the country. Of course, each was sure its best team was the best in the land.

"I have for some time been thinking that it would be a good thing if there were a challenge cup which should be held from year to year by the champion hockey team in the Dominion," Stanley wrote in a letter congratulating the Ottawa Hockey Club after they won their third straight league title in 1892.

"There does not appear to be any such outward sign of a championship at present, and considering the general interest which matches now elicit, and the importance of having the game played fairly and under rules generally recognized, I am willing to give a cup which shall be held from year to year by the winning team."

Lord Stanley went so far as to propose a format for the competition, a two-game, home-and-home series.

He had an aide purchase a sterling silver bowl for 10 guineas (about $50 at that time) from G.R. Collis and Company. On the sides of the bowl he had engraved "Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup" and "From Stanley of Preston".

Lord Stanley also set up five simple rules for his cup, including setting up a committee of trustees to ensure that competition was fair and that deserving teams got a chance to challenge. In those days, any team that had displayed enough competence could issue a challenge. The team holding the cup could accept, but if they refused it was up to the trustees to determine whether they should be forced to defend the cup.

In 1893, the Montreal Amateur Athletic Association (AAA) won the championship of the Amateur Athletic Association of Canada. Having defeated all comers, including the Ontario champions from Ottawa, the AAA were deemed to be the champions of Canada and were thus awarded the Stanley Cup.

It really was just a cup, then -- or more precisely a bowl. There were no rings between the bowl and the base. The Cup stood 18.5 cm (7.28 inches) in height and had a diameter of 29 cm (11.42 inches).

Its size has changed over the years. At one time in the 1950s, the Cup still had all the rings attached, and stood nearly six feet high.

The current Stanley Cup, made of silver and nickel alloy, has a height of 89.54 cm (35.25 inches) and weighs 15.5 kg (34.5 lb).

Not all the winning teams are engraved on the rings. Lord Stanley had the ring attached for that very purpose but, after the first ring was filled, winning teams opted to engrave their names on the bowl itself. The 1907 Montreal Wanderers' names appear in the bottom of the bowl. They were also the first team to have the names of all the team personnel inscribed.

In 1909, the Ottawa Senators won the title, and added the second ring so their team and names could be added. Although this created space for other winners, the 1910 Montreal Wanderers and 1911 Ottawa Senators didn't have their names inscribed.

Not until 1915, when the Vancouver Millioinaires were the winners, did the second full set of players' names appear. The Millionaires had their names engraved on the sides of the inside surface of the bowl. Since then, the tradition has been carried on.

Most of the Cup's early life was spent in Montreal. Montreal teams won 18 of the first 24 Stanley Cup awards. (Winnipeg Victorias won the other six.) Montreal Canadiens won their first Cup in 1915, before the formation of the National Hockey League. The Canadiens have won 23 more times since the NHL was formed in 1926, the most for any franchise.

The Cup holders could be challenged at any time during the season until 1912, when it was decided challenges couldn't be played until the end of the season.

In 1915, the playoff format changed. The National Hockey Association and the Pacific Coast League had emerged as the strongest loops, and it was agreed their respective champions would play off for the Cup. The NHA dissolved in 1917 to be replaced by the National Hockey League.

Until 1926, the NHL champion played off against the Western Hockey League champs. The WHL folded that year, and the Cup became the exclusive property of the NHL.

Some other Stanley Cup notes:
• There are lots of 'typos' on the cup. For example, The name of the great goaltender Jacques Plante appears misspelled five times. He's called Jocko, Jack, and Jacques Plant in some of the engravings. The Boston Bruins, in their 1972 entry, are called the "Bqstqn" Bruins. The New York Islanders' 1981 win was credited to the New York Ilanders. The f was changed to an e when the Toronto Maple Leafs won in 1963.

• The misspellings, by the way, appear only on the authentic Stanley Cup. They've been corrected on the replica, which is kept on display in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

• The original bowl, purchased by Lord Stanley, also resides at the Hockey Hall of Fame. The one that sits atop the Cup now is a replica made in 1963.

• Henri Richard has the most wins as a player: 11. But the name that appears on the Cup more than any other is another Montreal Canadiens great, Jean Beliveau: 10 times as a player and seven as a team executive for a total of 17.

• There are rules about whose name can appear on the Cup. Basically, the honour goes to team players, management, owners. etc. But, in 1984, Edmonton Oiler owner Peter Pocklington had the name of his father, Basil Pocklington, included with his champion team. NHL officials noticed it and had Basil's named obliterated by a series of Xs.

• The Winnipeg Victorias were the first team to sip champagne from the Cup. They hit the bubbly after winning in 1896, starting a tradition that continues today.

• Ted Lindsay, with the 1950 Detroit Red Wings, was the first captain to hoist the cup and go for a victory lap.

• The cup has gone missing several times. In 1905, a member of the Ottawa Senators attempted to drop kick the Cup across the Rideau Canal. His effort failed and no one retrieved the Cup until the next day when it was found sitting on the ice in the middle of the river. In 1906, the Montreal Wanderers had their team picture taken with the Cup and then left it behind at the photographer's studio.

Several weeks later, someone went backto retrieve it -- the photograher's mother was using it as a planter for her geraniums. Some members of the 1924 Montreal Canadiens were on their way to a victory party with the Cup in the trunk of a player's car. They had to stop to fix a flat tire, and emptied the trunk to get the spare and jack. When they moved on, the Cup was still sitting on a snowbank at the side of the road. Fortunately, it was still there when they returned a while later.

A Montreal fan tried to steal the Cup from a display case at Chicago Stadium, in 1962. The Habs were about to lose the semifinal to the Blackhawks and the Montreal fan smashed the glass, hoisted the Cup and headed for the exit. A security guard came along just in time to stop him. The fan told the judge he just wanted to take the Cup back to Montreal "where it belongs".

In the late 1960s and again in 1970 the Cup and other NHL trophies were stolen. They were all eventually recovered, and, after the 1970 incident the NHL revealed that the original 1893 bowl is kept in a vault at the Hall of Fame -- a replica had been made in 1963. Ever since 1994, when the cup was damaged by New York Rangers players and fans at a victory party, the NHL and Hall of Fame have assigned a team of Keepers of the Cup, or Cup Cops, to watch over it.

• The Cup has also been damaged several times. The 1940 New York Rangers celebrated the retirement of the mortgage on Madison Square Garden by burning the document in the Stanley Cup bowl. It was dropped into a bonfire at a party for the 1962 Toronto Maple Leafs. Lester Patrick's sons, Lynn and Muzz, found the Cup in their basement after Dad's team, the Victoria Cougars, had won it in 1925. They carved their names into it with a nail. Both later had their names added, legitimately, as members of the New York Rangers winning team in 1940.

Mark Messier took the Cup to a party at a club in his hometown, in 1987. By next morning, the Cup had been bent and damaged in several places. It was taken to a local auto body shop for repairs. Several players have reportedly thrown the Cup into  their swimming pools to see if it will float. It does not. And the Cup has been dropped a few times, resulting in dents that have had to be repaired.

• Each ring stays on the Cup for 64 years. Each ring has room for 13 winning teams, and there are five rings attached. When a new ring is needed, the oldest ring is removed and put into a display at the Hall of Fame. One ring is missing, however. Legend has it that a Montreal Canadiens player stole it and had it made into a trophy for their coach, Toe Blake.