While I wasn't personally invested in this year's Memorial Cup, it was hard not to share in the excitement of Shawinigan Cataractes' captain Michael Bournival when he raised the trophy over his head while being mobbed by his team.

It brings back memories of seeing Kootenay Ice captain Jarrett Stoll doing the same thing a decade ago, when the Kootenay Ice captured their first CHL championship five years after relocating to Cranbrook from Edmonton.

The team took the cup back to Cranbrook and teammates and staff shared around the trophy, as is the usual tradition for winning a championship in any sport.

However, somewhere along the way, something broke on the Memorial Cup.

Let me explain.

I'm not going to point any fingers because wear and tear on a trophy is a part of any celebration as teammates pass it around or drink out of the cup or even sleep with it-as Sidney Crosby did with the Stanley Cup after the Penguins won it in 2009.

Recent trophy damage incidents include a dented Stanley Cup when it fell from a table while former Boston Bruins forward Michael Ryder showed it off in Newfoundland.

The cup portion of the CFL's Grey Cup broke off from its base during celebrations by the B.C. Lions when they won the championship in Winnipeg in 2006.

The Memorial Cup hasn't escaped unscathed; it broke after Spokane Chiefs captain Chris Bruton attempted to pass it off after the 2008 tournament in Kitchener, Ont.

When the Ice brought the Memorial Cup back to Cranbrook, there was one such trophy mishap.

Gary Hansen, the Ice equipment manager, brought the trophy out to the Kootenay Trout Hatchery along with a few classic cars to get some pictures on the well-manicured lawn surrounding the facility.

The Hatchery manager allowed the photo shoot, attracting the staff-which included my dad-to the scene, along with families living in the Bull River area.

However, in passing around the Cup, one of the figurines on the sides began listing to the point where it eventually fell off.

However, instead of packing the thing off to a trophy restoration business, the Hatchery staff brought it into the facility shop to tinker around with it-respectfully, of course.

Turned out that one of the nuts that kept the figurine bolted to the trophy had slipped off and that it only needed to be replaced to return the trophy back to its pristine glory.

While the Hatchery team managed to fix the problem, it's hard to say how long the jury-rigged solution lasted.

As Bournival lifted the trophy above his head during the post-game celebration on Sunday, I couldn't help but notice a missing figurine.