Last season in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the VERSUS network (RIP) sent around a Zamboni that doubled as an ice cream truck to NHL arenas. That was cool. But this year's playoff stunt from NBC Sports Group is … awesome.
This is an artist's rendering of the 21-foot-high, 6,600-pound Stanley Cup replica that NBC is putting in Manhattan's Times Square for three days, beginning on Wednesday, April 11 and the start of the NHL playoffs.
It's not just a giant fountain; it's a giant water fountain.
As in, you can drink from the 21-foot high Stanley Cup.
(Why do we suddenly sound like Willy Wonka explaining lickable wallpaper?)
From NBC, some fountain facts:
• When set on the platform, the height of the structure from the ground to the top of the Fountain is approximately 21 ½ feet
• The entire structure weighs approximately 6,600 lbs
• Designers and engineers used the Hockey Hall of Fame's 3-D renderings and high resolution images of the Cup to create a large scale representation of the Stanley Cup.
• The Stanley Cup Fountain will feature 12 industrial fountain pop jets in the upper bowl, shooting water six feet above the Cup
• Visitors can drink NYC Water from specific spouts at the base of the Fountain with reusable souvenir cups from NBC Sports/NHL and NYC Water
• In total, the system will pump 120 gallons of water/minute through the structure
Here's the massive Cup under construction:
For comparison's sake, the actual Stanley Cup is just under 3 feet tall (35 and 1/4 inches) and weighs roughly 32 pounds.
The event is presented in party by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection's Water-on-the-Go. Delta Fountain is the fountain plumbing waterworks and Long Island's own Showman Fabrications is building the Cup.
There will be a formal ceremony on Wednesday featuring NBC Sports Group chairman Mark Lazarus and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, who will bravely appear in public with the Stanley Cup knowing full well that midtown Manhattan will boo him.