Ducks plan to keep Stanley Cup busy

As if the crushed players, and fans, of the Ottawa Senators didn’t need one more bitter twist of the hockey knife, consider this looming truth: The most-revered trophy in professional sports, the Stanley Cup, will be coming to Ottawa this summer after all.

But only in the taunting form of a day-trip. All members of the newly minted Stanley Cup champion Ducks gained the privilege of getting to spend 24 hours with the iconic treasure this summer. And so, when asked about his plans for the Cup, this was the first word from Ducks defenseman Sean O’Donnell: “Ottawa.”

He grew up in nearby Kanata, Canada, which happens to be the location of the Senators’ home rink, and unlike many of his perhaps superstitious teammates, had some semblance of a plan for his date with Stanley.

The Stanley Cup, apparently, will be one big dog dish again, serving up kibbles for his 10-year-old dog, Buddy, a black Labrador who is missing a right front leg because of cancer.

“We’ll get a picture of him doing that,” O’Donnell said.

Hey, if it was good enough for the New York Islanders’ Clark Gillies and his dog in 1980 at the start of their legendary dynastic run, why not for an animal who has beaten the tough odds given to him by doctors in January 2006?

“Every kid always imagines what he would do,” O’Donnell said. “I’ll probably go back to Kanata and have some close friends in the backyard for a couple of hours in the afternoon and do something at nighttime for one of the coaches I played for. There’s so many people.

” ... And bring it back to the house till the sun comes up.”

It clearly is a 24-hour party for people.

Already, for most of Wednesday night and part of Thursday, it has seemingly not left the side of Ducks captain and postseason MVP Scott Niedermayer, who won the Cup three other times, all with the New Jersey Devils. He appeared on ESPN’s “Jim Rome is Burning” with the Cup on Thursday afternoon and had earlier taken it and the Conn Smythe Trophy to his children’s school in Huntington Beach.

Good luck to the poor soul trying to follow that show-and-tell session.

Ducks officials said there were about 20 or so appearances with the players and the Stanley Cup scheduled in the area before Saturday’s official fan celebration at Honda Center at 6:30 p.m., including Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Chris Pronger and Brad May on the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” on Thursday night.

The hallowed Cup is regarded like a rock star, and is treated accordingly. On Wednesday night, it was ushered into the Honda Center almost discreetly, and TV cameras caught a glimpse of it being unloaded by white-gloved handlers at 7:10 p.m., near the end of the second period and CBC announcers used the word “goose bumps” at spotting it again.

This quiet, almost magical entrance was by design, according to one of the keepers of the Cup who was interviewed during the postgame celebration on the ice. For the players, it’s an established hockey superstition to not touch the Cup unless you’ve won it. It would be like the groom seeing a bride’s dress before the march down the aisle.

“We flew into LAX and arrived in Anaheim [Tuesday] night and were kind of out of the way today, not visible today,” said Phil Pritchard, a vice president and curator of the Hockey Hall of Fame, where the Cup normally resides.

“Because they really don’t want to see us unless it’s this. It’s one of those things.”

There was still a glimmer of uncertainty after two periods, even with the Ducks holding a 4-2 lead. The champagne supernova of a Cup celebration was oh so close to becoming unleashed.

“You can’t take anything for granted,” Pritchard said. “And you wait and watch. The players are anticipating.... And we’re either staying the night or catching a flight and going. To see that all come about every year, it’s pretty special.”

The plans for the Cup’s summer travels with the Ducks will be solidified in the coming days and it will start the journey through the Ducks’ roster and staff after the NHL entry draft later this month. For those avid Cup watchers, the Hockey Hall of Fame has a website page dedicated to the trophy’s movements with the Ducks. Go to www.hhof.com and click on Stanley Cup Journal.

Either Pritchard or one of his colleagues will be making far-flung trips this summer, ranging from Finland (Teemu Selanne) to Cole Harbor, Nova Scotia (Joe DiPenta) and will have the unusual treat of spending two days in Cranbrook, British Columbia, the home of brothers Scott and Rob Niedermayer.

“Rob and I are just going to be able to have a good couple of days with it,” Scott said. “Our friends and family are going to be there. We’re just going to sit back, side by side, and just enjoy the fact we were able to do it together.”

Forward Shawn Thornton had a more ambitious schedule for his day in Oshawa, Ontario.

“Golfing, probably. I’ll use it as my ball marker and everyone else will have to putt around it,” he said. “My grandmother has Parkinson’s disease and I’m going to take it to her old age home and give it to old people there and share it around.

“Then I’m going to take it to a local pub, not tell anyone where it is and just going to enjoy it for the night and have a few beers.”

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lisa.dillman@latimes.com