SIDEWAYS GLANCE DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR CUP IS?

Byline: - Tom Hoffarth

Where goeth Lord Stanley's trophy? Heck, where hasn't it been?

The Stanley Cup, North America's most famous piece of formed sterling silver, gets to spend 24 hours of quality time with players from the winning team each proceeding offseason. What the guys do with it is their own regrettable business.

Some have taken it to nursing homes, hospitals and family gatherings to sit and worship its existence. In 1999, it was listed among the Hollywood celebrities invited to take part in a celebrity run through L.A. to support women's cancer research.

Then again ...

With help from the book ``Why Is the Stanley Cup in Mario Lemieux's Swimming Pool? How Winners Celebrate With the World's Most Famous Cup'' (by Kevin Allen, Triumph Books) and other sources, here are some of the places it has been and things it has been subjected to over the years before security tightened after the 1994 New York Rangers abused it so much it needed to go in for repairs:

--The bottom of a swimming pool: As the book says, it happened with Lemieux after the Penguins won it in 1991. Two years later, the same thing reportedly happened in Patrick Roy's pool after Montreal beat the Kings for the title, though Roy denies it.

--On the side of the road: Leo Dandurand, a member of Montreal's 1924 team, had it for a champagne party, and teammates coming to his house with the Cup were delayed when the tire on their car blew out. Needing to take the Cup out to get to the spare, the trophy was forgotten in a snowbank. The players realized it when they got to the party and had to retrace their route a mile-and-a-half away to recover it.

--In a canal: After the 1905 championship, one of the Ottawa players claimed he could kick the Cup across the frozen Rideau Canal near Lake Ontario. The Cup was just a cup at the time with no base. He kicked it, and didn't quite get it across. The players continued to party, forgot about the Cup and found it the next morning.

--As a urinal: New York Rangers players treated it as such after winning it in 1940.

--As a geranium vase: The mother of a photographer used it for that after the Cup was left behind at her son's studio by the Montreal team in 1907.

--Filled with holy water: The Colorado Avalanche's Sylvain Lefebvre had his daughter baptized in it in 1996.

--As a feed bag: The Rangers' Ed Olczyk let 1994 Kentucky Derby winner Go For Gin eat from it at Belmont Park in New York. In 1980, Clark Gillies of the New York Islanders had his dog wolf down food in it.

--As a popcorn bowl: New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur wanted to share it with his family, who wanted to go to the movies and see ``The Kid.'' Brodeur said: ``We waited until the previews ended and slipped into the theater. The kids filled the bowl with popcorn and ate from the Stanley Cup. It was a nice family day.''

--Strip clubs: Mark Messier took it to an Edmonton, Alberta, establishment after the Oilers won it in 1987 and put in on stage with an exotic dancer. Then, after the Rangers won it in 1994, Messier took it to Scores, a strip club in New York.

--The Hollywood sign: That's where Detroit's Luc Robitaille got his picture with it last summer, not far from his home in Southern California.

--Where is the Cup today: In the Southern California area as tonight's Game 4 of the NHL Finals is played at the Pond in Anaheim. The trophy will make a special appearance at the Marine Corps training base at Camp Pendleton.