Katy’s Cup for a Day: How the Most Iconic Trophy in Sports Wound Up in Avalon
Vegas Golden Knights exec Katy Boettinger poses with the Stanley Cup in front of the rock at the site of her grandmother’s house.
So, if you think there is magic in the sand at the beaches of Avalon, you might find the proof on something called the Stanley Cup.
Yes, the Stanley Cup.
Imagine being a little girl writing her name in the sand on an Avalon beach a short while ago. Now, imagine it’s 2023, and instead of writing your name on the beach, you are bringing the Stanley Cup to Avalon – and your name is engraved on the Cup.
Indeed, the tides might have quickly washed away the name “Katy” from the beach back in the day, but the name Katy Boettinger will forever be engraved on Lord Stanley’s Cup as an invaluable member of the front office of the NHL champion Vegas Golden Knights.
Her official title is director of hockey administration, but she is basically the go-to person to solve whatever problem or situation comes up that day, week, season, or whatever the need of the moment.
Boettinger, who was Katy Headman when she was a kid running around Avalon, made sure she brought the Cup back to a place that was such a big part of her childhood. Since 1995, members of the winning team as well as coaches and key front-office employees traditionally have retained the Cup for a day, accompanied by an official Cup handler.
“Avalon was such a big part of my whole family growing up,” says Boettinger, who was at the shore with her husband David for a week during July.
“For years, my grandmother lived [year-round] in our house on 17th Street. We spent time there every summer, and every other Christmas we spent time there. I still remember seeing the Christmas tree lit up on the top floor as we came down the street.”
The house has since been sold, but Boettinger made sure she brought the Cup to that special place.
“Truth be told, the new owners didn’t know we were there,” she jokes. “That house was so much a part of our family. We rang the doorbell, nobody was home, and I’m sure they will get a shock of checking their doorbell camera and seeing people out front with the Stanley Cup.
“There was a big rock in front of the house that we always stood in front of, or on, for summer pictures, and I just wanted a picture with the Cup at that spot.”
Given her day with the Cup, Boettinger decided to bring the Cup to Sacred Heart Church where Monsignor Liam Quinn had come up with a special blessing for the legendary piece of hardware.
“He was great, he knew there were some blessings for athletes and athletic events, so he went from there,” she says. “He actually did a lot of research on the history of the Cup, and he told us about his days playing Gaelic football before the seminary.”
It was sort of full-circle event for Boettinger, and almost seven years to the day that she accepted a job in 2016, to join the front office of the Knights to work with George McPhee, who has served as the expansion club’s president and general manager.
Boettinger had worked with McPhee when he was general manager of the Capitals, and it was there that McPhee realized this was a woman who could handle any situation.
Eventually, McPhee left the Caps and Boettinger, who has an undergrad degree from Maryland, and graduate degree from Penn, moved on to teach in Maryland and Florida. (And if you had any doubts about her Jersey Shore roots, consider that in the year between undergrad at Maryland and grad school at Penn, she worked at Avalon Yacht Club, and a summer as a docent at Cape May County Zoo.)
However, when McPhee called to join him with the clean sheet of paper as an expansion franchise in Vegas, she and her husband took the leap from Tampa to Vegas – and seven years later, the magic of the Stanley Cup.
Well, actually the magic happened right away as the Knights reached the Cup finals in their first season (2017-18), and their game presentation was an immediate game changer for the entire NHL.
“It has been a whirlwind, but just a great time,” she said. “Hockey people, they’re just the best, and we want to make it very special for everybody in Vegas, players, families, fans, everybody.”
Boettinger wears about a dozen hats for the Knights: She is involved in the immigration process for players, marketing, business planning, promotions, game presentations, and generally making sure all the dots are connected for every game, every season, every player and their families.
And when she found out she was going to have her name engraved on the Cup?
“In the first place, I was honored that I was approved to be on the ice if we did win the Cup, she said, “and then when I found out my name was going to be on the Cup … I … ”
If you’ve ever seen the promotion where the players have no words to describe what it’s like to win a Cup, well, the feeling is the same when you are told your name will forever be a part of Stanley Cup history.
Indeed, Vegas might have the bright lights, but Avalon boasts those special lights of memories that eventually bring everybody back – sometimes with the Stanley Cup.