ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A special visitor to the Tampa Bay area and the Spectrum Bay News 9 Studios drew cheers and tears.
- Stanley Cup awarded yearly to NHL champion
- RELATED: Lightning watch parties, promotions
- More On the Town headlines with Virginia Johnson
The Stanley Cup, the National Hockey League's famous championship trophy, sat in our green room along with "The Keeper of the Cup," Mike Bolt.
Bolt has been with the cup for almost 20 years.
The cup is 3 feet tall and weighs 37 pounds, and every member of the championship team gets a day with the Cup. That's what makes it so unique.
Bolt says the cup has a midnight curfew, and that he has used a garden hose to clean it off before. It travels around in its own foot locker on wheels, and it's been around the world — from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to the Great Wall of China.
The cup travels 300 days a year.
We surprised our very own Lighting super fan Lindsay Brown, hiding the cup in our guest "green room" for a reveal that brought on a tear or two.
Watch the video above for Virginia's story.