The Chronicles of Stanley is an occasional series this summer that tracks the Detroit Red Wings as they each get their special alone time with the Stanley Cup. For more about the travels of the Chalice, visit NHL.com's Stanley Cup blog.

Most of the Stanley Cup travels for the Detroit Red Wings have been relatively scandal-free, outside of Tomas Holmstrom allowing it to be used in a religious ceremony and Kris Draper's kid offering a baptism-by-poop.

Defenseman Chris Chelios took part in what was, at the time, the most disreputable Cup chronicle: The (now-denied) use of the Chalice as a giant ashtray at a Kid Rock party.

As far as controversy goes, Chelios may have topped that one during his time with the Cup back his hometown of Chicago, when he dropped this nugget to the Chicago Tribune:

"I intend on coming back home here some day and spending the rest of my days here, whether it's as a player or somehow being involved with the Blackhawks."

Traitorous! George Malik wonders if there's any way Chelios can be convinced that Detroit is just as worth a retirement village as the Windy City. The Free Press took a rather defeatist (though satirical) tone with the Chicago Blackhawks: "Aren't they satisfied with poaching Scotty Bowman?"

We're all for Chelios joining the Blackhawks one day -- although it's virtually assured he'll sign back with the Red Wings for this season -- just for the sheer pain it might cause one or two Habs fans seeing both Cheli and Denis Savard in Chicago together.

Coming up: More Chelios, Brian Rafalski plays bartender, The Mule rocks and some locally-based bitterness about the Stanley Cup.

After Brett Ledba had the Cup on Thursday, Chelios took the thing and went all over Chicago. He hit Wrigley Field for a day game -- throwing out the first pitch, singing a well-received rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," and entertaining fans outside the stadium with glimpses of the Cup (video, last 10 seconds or so) -- before bringing the Chalice to a White Sox game that night at U.S. Cellular Field.

Of course, Wrigley is much, much cooler than the home of the Sox; it's the difference between meeting Ozzie Guillen and getting a photo op with John Cusack, Ryan Dempster and Eddie Vedder. Which is to say the difference between something you'd loathe and something you'd tell your grandkids about.

According to the aptly named These Boots Were Made for Stalking, Chelios had the Cup at the "Mexx Kitchen at the Whiskey, Gibsons, the Cubs game, Murphy's, the White Sox game and the Pearl Jam concert (Ed. Note: Just Eddie Vedder, actually) at the Auditorium Theatre. And then, fittingly enough, the Stanley Cup ended up at Stanley's for last call." And here's the scene from Stanley's:

Much fun was had by all. Well, save for that one guy who started a "Detroit Sucks" chant while Chelios was at Wrigley, and was scolded by a Cubs fan who told him the Tigers weren't even playing. And those fans who believe Chelios's presence is the reason the Cubs and Sox both lost their games on Friday.

Can You Spot the Mule?

Nothing says "champion" like hanging with a Cirque du Soleil tribute band.

We already covered Johan Franzen's day with the Cup in a previous edition of the Chronicles, but we couldn't allow this photo to pass us by. NHL.com's Kevin Shea has the skinny:

Exhausted but excited, the winger was guest of honour that evening at a party at the Vetlanda Stadshotel. He and (girlfriend) C.C. brought the Stanley Cup into the hotel, and were immediately surrounded by wall-to-wall people.

Described by close friends as tending to be a little shy, The Mule was anything but as the band took the stage at his party. He put the Stanley Cup on the stage and began to sing and play guitar with the musicians. At 1:00AM, Johan excused himself from the party. "Sorry guys, but I'm leaving tomorrow for a vacation to Greece, and I've got to go," he said, waving.

In other news, we think the red jumper above would make a rather stunning third jersey for the Wings this season.

All Politics Are Local

Two rather odd instances of municipal discontent from the Wings' travels with Stanley.

The city of Vernon in B.C. saw Detroit's GM and a scout come to celebrate their championship victory. Resident Gary Turik took time from righting outraged letters about potholes to chastise the city in a local newspaper for not organizing a massive party for them:

Ken Holland and Marty Stein were Vernon Minor Hockey players now working with the Detroit Red Wings and Chris Osgood makes his summer home in Vernon. How could the city council not celebrate and recognize their achievements?

In lieu of City of Vernon participation, Ken and Marty organized and presented the Stanley Cup for the citizens of Vernon. This is the fourth Stanley Cup championship since 1997 to visit Vernon. How many does it take?

We blame the do-nothing city council! Actually, we have no idea if Vernon has a city council, or if they're "do-nothing." It just sounded right ...

Meanwhile, Red Wings assistant coach Paul MacLean took the Cup to Antigonish, where the Premier of Nova Scotia Rodney MacDonald honored him with what has to be the single most backhanded compliment of the summer:

"As a Montreal Canadiens fan myself, I know I will be able to see a lot of their names etched a lot of times in Lord Stanley's (cup). But today I am a Paul MacLean fan and happy to see Detroit do so well. I am happy for Paul MacLean and his family."

Translation: "Well, whaddya know: My team has 24 Stanley Cups. But 11 is good, too. For an American team."

Rafalski the Bartender

Red Wings defenseman Brian Rafalski had the Stanley Cup in Iola, WI, and did something rather cool with it: He took part in a charity auction where a local fan was able to spend a half hour with B-Raf and the Cup.

From WSAW.com:

"The last time I did something with it myself and this time I decided to change it up a little bit and let somebody else put on the event, and I just have to show up with the cup," said a smiling Rafalski. "It's for a good benefit, for Tammy for her medical bills and I hope it helps."

"It's kind of a two-fold purpose," said auction winner Bill McDonald. "We were really glad to be able to help, in a small way help Tammy out and to have the Cup is just awesome. As you can see, it's made a lot of people pretty happy to get to see that thing in person."

Again, hockey players keep proving that they're the nicest, most down-to-earth athletes on the planet. Of course, there's nothing more down-to-earth than allowing a bunch of dudes at a bachelor party to sip from the Stanley Cup. Here's Rafalski with the groom-to-be, Justin Gay:

And with Carl P. Grant:

And with Rob McGartland:

And with Pat Heber and Michael Gay and Garrett Murdock and ... well, you get the idea. Bottom line is that each of these guys has now touched the Stanley Cup more times than Mike Gartner.

(Again, we pay respect to George James Malik and SnapShots, whose coverage of the Wings this summer allowed us to find most of this nonsense. Kudos, sir.)