Dave Bishop fulfills lifelong dream as Keeper of the Cup

For pretty much his entire life, Dave Bishop has been fascinated by the Stanley Cup.
And for nearly that long, he's wanted to be one of the select few people entrusted to protect the cup when it's out in public.
Bishop has known Phil Pritchard since childhood.
The two grew up in the same neighborhood in Burlington, Ontario.
Pritchard's mother was from the Lake District in England and lived across the street from Bishop's grandparents, who grew up in Wales.

"They hit it off," Bishop said. "They were really good friends."
Pritchard is the original and most well-known Keeper of the Cup. His museum-formal white gloves and distinctive blonde locks have made him a minor celebrity. Fans line up for a picture with him after they've gotten one with the Cup.
Pritchard started accompanying the Cup on its journeys 32 years ago and introduced the tradition of each player, coach and staff member on the championship team getting their own day with the Cup starting with the 1995 New Jersey Devils.
"I actually grew up calling him Uncle Phil," Bishop said.
The families would spend Christmas together. One year, "Uncle Phil" gave Bishop a Vancouver Pavel Bure jersey from the Canucks' run to the Stanley Cup Final in 1994.
"From that point on, I was a huge hockey fan," Bishop said.
At age 14, Bishop started attending the Hockey Hall of Fame Induction Celebration every year.

"I fell in love with it," Bishop said. "I loved meeting all the coaches, all the players. I loved being around all the memorabilia and all the artifacts."
Whenever the Stanley Cup was around, Bishop would always make sure to get a picture with it, his earliest coming at six years old. He laments he doesn't have a pic as a baby inside the Cup.
"I kind of was razzing Phil about that the other day," he said, laughing.
As a kid, Bishop would put on charity events, like conducting street hockey games, and try to get the Cup out for the event. Sometimes he was successful.
He won the Ontario Junior Citizen of the Year award in 2000 for his charity efforts.
"There's lots of great pictures of me in the paper with Phil and the Cup, the Conn Smythe, the Prince of Wales at charity events," Bishop said.
All along, he'd let Pritchard know he'd eventually like to become a Keeper of the Cup too.
"Every year at the induction, I would kind of pester him and say, 'I'd really love to do what you do one day,'" Bishop recalled.
At last year's induction in November, Bishop asked again if there was an opening.
Pritchard capitulated.
"I wouldn't say he bugged me, but he's been persistent with me for years," Pritchard said. "I think if anything, for kids listening out there, being persistent is good. We all want to achieve our goals. Being persistent is how you get there."
In January, Bishop started doing outreach events - going out in the community, setting up artifact displays and explaining the artifacts -- for the Hockey Hall of Fame. In March, he was scheduled to go to Boston for a reunion weekend with Phil Esposito, Bobby Orr and the rest of the 1970 Boston Bruins, but the COVID-19 pandemic paused the National Hockey League's season earlier that week and cancelled those plans.
"I was pretty disappointed with that and everything that happened with the season," Bishop said. "I thought maybe I might not get my opportunity this year."
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The 2020 Tampa Bay Lightning will be the maiden voyage for Dave Bishop's journey as an official Keeper of the Cup.
The Stanley Cup has spent time with a few Lightning staff members. A couple players have already had their turn with it.
On the day Bishop and I talk, season ticket holders are coming through AMALIE Arena to have their picture taken next to the Cup, Bishop standing off to the side and overseeing.
They've taken the Cup to landmarks and picture-worthy spots all over the Tampa Bay area: The Dali, Busch Gardens, Clearwater Marine Aquarium, the Florida Aquarium.
"When we went to St. Pete Beach, that was fantastic," Bishop said. "We had it out on the beach. The pictures were phenomenal. They were all over social media. The people down there were fantastic. Everybody gets their picture with (the Cup). When we set up for a photo shoot, we just basically tell everyone that's gathered around, 'Let us get our pictures and then you can all come through and take pictures with it.'
"We just want everybody to get their picture with it. That's really important for us is having a good experience with the Cup when it's out in the community."
At Busch Gardens, cheetahs ate from the Cup's bowl.
"I was a little scared being around the cheetahs," Bishop admitted.
As we talk, a danger alert blares from Bishop's cell phone. Hurricane Eta - downgraded to a tropical storm before reaching shore - is churning in the Gulf of Mexico and a few hours from hitting the Tampa Bay area.
The storm is another first for Bishop.
"That's exciting for me because being from Canada, I've never been around that," he said.
The Cup was scheduled to go on a boat tour the day Eta hit.
That excursion, obviously, didn't happen.
The storm cancellation is one of many obstacles the Cup Keepers face in this most unusual of offseasons. With limitations on the amount of people allowed to celebrate with players during their days with the Cup as well as restrictions on where the Cup is allowed to go, the Cup's schedule is ever-evolving, almost up to the minute.
"I think right now we don't have any idea of what we can and will do with it when we're on those days with the players, the coaching staff," Bishop said. "Sometimes we find out the day before. I don't know if that's typical, but I think with the fluid situation this year, it's been something that sometimes we find out a little late, and as long as it's okay within the NHL protocols for COVID, awesome, let's do it."
Realistically, Bishop might still be waiting for his Cup Keeper opportunity if it wasn't for Covid. In a typical offseason, the job usually lasts from mid-June to the beginning of September.
With the pause of the 2019-20 season and eventual resumption, culminating in Tampa Bay winning the Stanley Cup on September 28 - nearly a full year after starting the season October 3, 2019 - the Lightning will have the Cup from October through December. Many of the Cup Keepers have teaching jobs outside their Hockey Hall of Fame duties, so the timing with their school schedules didn't allow them to accompany the Cup this season.
Which opened an opportunity for Bishop.
"Once Covid kind of set in, I had given up on it altogether," Bishop said. "I thought maybe we wouldn't even have days with the Cup this year. When it was March, April and people couldn't even leave their houses, definitely down on the possibility of doing it. But, yeah, is it a bit of a blessing in disguise? Perhaps, but I'm just taking it day by day right now, just trying to enjoy it, just trying to soak it in."
"He loves it," Pritchard added. "He's hanging out in Tampa in November, no wonder he loves it."
When Bishop's not with the Cup, he runs Bishop Sports, which he describes as a boutique player agency specializing in assisting junior players, players out of college and players heading to Europe reach their maximum potential on and off the ice.
"Even in the short time I've been (a Keeper of the Cup), every day you'll get three or four people that say, 'You have the best job. How do I get your job?' But you have to have something to do when you're not on the road," Bishop explained. "I'm able to do (my job) while I'm on the road when I have some free time. So I'm in a very unique situation. On one hand, yes, it is a very competitive job. A lot of people want to do this, but then when it comes to the nitty gritty it's not ideal for everybody's situation."
Bishop has found his ideal situation, accompanying the Stanley Cup on its journey around the world, meeting new people, having new experiences, all while hanging out with "Uncle Phil", his family friend who helped him land his dream job.
"32 years, right? He's been doing it forever, and he's become synonymous with the Cup," Bishop said of Pritchard. "The Cup has always had handlers per se, but Phil really made it something special. He made it something that you could aspire to. I really take it as a gift that I'm able to even just be in Phil's orbit."