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The Stanley Cup makes its way around L.A.

The Stanley Cup stops by Mayor Eric Garcetti's office in Los Angeles City Hall.
(Katie Landan/Los Angeles Times)
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Los Angeles Kings fans were able to celebrate the team’s 2014 NHL championship (and get some really great selfies) once again Friday as the Stanley Cup made a few stops around the city.

Fans at City Hall, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles Fire Department and here at The Times took photos with the 120-year-old cup, and at one point a baby was even hoisted up into it.

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti took pictures of and posed with the cup with City Council members. While cheering on the Kings at a Staples Center event June 16, Garcetti infamously dropped an expletive while on live television. The sold-out crowd burst into cheers at the mayor's unexpected use of the F-word.

The few stops Friday in downtown Los Angeles were just a small leg of the 35-pound silver cup’s tour this year. According to the Hockey Hall of Fame, the Stanley Cup travels about 300 days of the year, and makes appearances at more than 500 events.

Since the cup isn't about to sprout legs and hop aboard a plane by itself any time soon, there are a few “cup keepers” who accompany it everywhere, from Sweden to Afghanistan. The job was created in 1994 to ensure that the cup doesn’t get too damaged on the road.

“It’s probably the best trophy in all of sport," Phil Pritchard, one of the cup keepers, told The Times. "The tradition of it, there’s probably nothing that compares to it.”

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