Stanley Cup’s tour of L.A.: Where should it go next?

As the Stanley Cup makes the rounds of South Bay bars, Kings players’ homes and late-night talk shows, I would like to put in a request for some cup time on behalf of city stakeholders the hockey organization may overlook.

The cup should visit a city animal shelter. (There are six. Pick at least one.) Surely frisky dogs would like to sniff it. Cats would no doubt curl up in it.

The cup is named for Lord Stanley of Preston, ice hockey fan and governor-general of Canada in the late 1800s who came up with the idea of a silver punchbowl as trophy. Surely it should make a stop at an address on Stanley. Again, there are a variety of locations to choose from -- Stanley Avenue near Melrose, Stanley Street in Compton, etc.

The cup should also go to Venice Beach so one of the agile street performers could hula hoop while holding it. It should be set down by construction workers in the middle of the 405 Freeway whenever it closes for Carmaggedon Part 2.

And we’d love for the cup to make an appearance at the Los Angeles Times. We promise not to drink chocolate milk out of it (as Kings captain Dustin Brown’s kids did.) In fact, after seeing all the kissing of it and sucking of liquids out of it, we’ll pretty much pass on drinking or eating anything out of the cup. We just want to pose with it for pictures that we’ll snap with our smartphones. Personally, I just want to turn it into a giant ice bath to soak my inflamed right foot, which is suffering a bout of plantar fasciitis. We promise not to lose it or lease it out to the production companies that film in our building.

Professional hockey may be the only sport in which the champions bring home a souvenir of victory and take it around town offering fans a chance to see it and touch it. When the Lakers win the NBA championship, they all get big fat championship rings, but I’m pretty sure they don’t let fans try them on -- or kiss them.

This passing of the cup is new for Los Angeles residents, many of whom don’t even share public transportation with each other, let alone trophies, trinkets or screen credit on movies. So wherever the cup goes, it’s fun to see different people in this very disparate city enjoy their moment to ham it up with a giant silver goblet.

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