According to the Washington Post, as the Keepers have witnessed the Cup keg stands gain popularity as they’ve traveled around the world with the Caps this past summer, they’ve begun discouraging players to stop doing Keg Stands. Keeper of the Cup Phil Pritchard said it’s because of concerns of damage to the Cup and/or the person performing the act.

Pritchard repeatedly praised how the Capitals have reverently handled the Cup, but he said he has been “advising” them to quit the Cup stands for fear of damage.

“We ask them politely not to do it,” Pritchard said. “We’re trying to preserve the history of the Stanley Cup. We don’t want any unnecessary damage to it or a person, in case they drop the person or he presses too hard or something.”

“We’ll see what happens as we move forward with the Cup,” Pritchard said. “At the end of September, the Cup is going in to get engraved and updated and cleaned and everything, so we’ll see how it is because we have to take it apart then and everything. We’ll know probably more then, in early October, once it’s back for the home opener. Our biggest thing is respect for it.”

You can see some Keg Stands with the Cup below: 

I think doing a keg stand with the Stanley Cup is what hockey is all about. You can’t let a tradition like this go away. Everyone loves dunking their head in beer.