kenb
Bronze Member
RETURN OF THE RING
'67 Stanley Cup championship ring found in Gulf
By CHRIS ANDERSON
[email protected]
SARASOTA -- Mark DesErmia searches for lost treasure each day with a parrot atop his shoulder, and the children on the beach always ask if he's a pirate.
He scours the Gulf of Mexico with an underwater metal detector up to 70 hours a week, and finds Rolex watches, diamond rings and enough wedding bands to increase the divorce rate. He once found a money clip holding $669. Another time, a set of teeth.
But nothing tops what the 44-year-old came across about three weeks ago: a Stanley Cup championship ring with an odd story behind it.
"The Holy Grail," he says.
The ring belongs to Jim Pappin, who scored the winning goal in the 1967 Stanley Cup Finals for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto is one of the most storied franchises in professional hockey, and 1967 was the last time the Maple Leafs won the Cup.
DesErmia was neck-deep in Clearwater Pass when the beeper on his $1,200 detector sounded. A sports memorabilia collector offered $20,000 for the ring, but he wants to return it to Pappin.
"I want to look back on this years from now and have a good feeling about it," said DesErmia. "I don't want to think, 'Gee, I should have returned it.'
"I've been wearing it, and I think, 'What did he go through to win this ring?' I think it would mean a great deal to him to have it back, and hopefully he'll reward me for it."
Just how does a championship hockey ring won in Canada find its way into the Gulf of Mexico in Florida?
Well, Toronto traded Pappin to the Chicago Blackhawks in 1968, and Pappin said he was so angry that he gave the ring to his father-in-law, the late Peter Kyrzakos, who lived in Vero Beach.
Sometime in the 1970s Kyrzakos lost the ring while swimming, presumably near Clearwater. Distraught, Kyrzakos hired divers who searched two days for it.
Kyrzakos then contacted ex-Toronto player Eddie Shack and asked to borrow Shack's ring. He took the ring to a jeweler and had an identical one made with Pappin's name on it.
In 1982, when Pappin got divorced, Kyrzakos finally told Pappin that he had lost his ring, and gave him the new one.
Pappin wore the new ring every day for more than two decades and forgot about the original.
Even Pappin's second wife, Peggy, did not know. She found out Wednesday when Pappin, who is in Toronto, was contacted about DesErmia's discovery.
"It's amazing," said the 67-year-old Pappin.
On Thursday morning the story was front-page news in the Toronto Star, Canada's largest newspaper.
For Pappin, a ring of honor
The ring DesErmia found has a one-carat diamond inside a maple leaf, and one side shows an engraving of the Stanley Cup.
Pappin's name is engraved inside the ring.
The ring's face says "Stanley Cup champions, 1964 and 1967." Pappin played on both championship teams.
In the 1960s, Toronto won four titles in six years, and instead of issuing new rings each year, the team just added to the originals.
Teams began issuing Stanley Cup rings as far back as 1893. The average cost of a ring today is $25,000, and a team can spend in excess of $1 million on rings.
Pappin, who played in the NHL for 14 seasons, led the 1967 playoffs in goals and points.
His goal in the sixth game of the Stanley Cup Finals gave Toronto the series win over Montreal, something similar to the Red Sox beating the Yankees.
DesErmia is always on the lookout for lost Super Bowl, World Series or Stanley Cup rings. He's never found one ... until now.
"The odds are very rare," said DesErmia. "No one ever loses a ring like this."
Well, not exactly. Tampa Bay Lightning equipment manager Vincent Humphries lost his 2004 Stanley Cup ring on Interstate 75 in South Carolina while changing a flat tire.
Treasure hunting is his life
DesErmia's interest in metal detectors began when he was 16.
That's when he lost a necklace swimming at Siesta Public Beach that his parents bought for his birthday.
"I really felt poorly," he said. "They spent a lot of money on it."
Today he is semi-retired and earns income off a rental property he owns.
He travels the west coast of Florida in a Chevy camper he bought for $2,000 and spends 8 to 10 hours a day combing the Gulf with a metal detector in his hand, and a parrot named Reno on his shoulder.
He is usually surrounded by fish, and the occasional manatee will approach him, too. Sharks stay away. He never misses a sunset.
He often sleeps in state parks, and every once in a while on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge fishing pier.
"I get up every morning excited about doing this," he said.
He finds a lot of necklaces now. Men's rings, too.
He figures men are more active in the water.
He always tries to find the owners and hopes for a reward.
"I'll take whatever they give me," he said.
Once, he said he found a diamond ring worth $50,000 and received a reward of $50.
Another time he received a reward of $500 for a $1,000 ring.
Meanwhile, Kyrzakos' granddaughter is getting married Aug. 31 in Canada, and Pappin thinks the found ring is some kind of sign from Kyrzakos.
"It seems funny the thing would show up now," Pappin said.
DesErmia is just amazed by the history behind the ring.
"It's the coolest thing I've ever found," he said.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20070824/NEWS/708240550
kenb
'67 Stanley Cup championship ring found in Gulf
By CHRIS ANDERSON
[email protected]
SARASOTA -- Mark DesErmia searches for lost treasure each day with a parrot atop his shoulder, and the children on the beach always ask if he's a pirate.
He scours the Gulf of Mexico with an underwater metal detector up to 70 hours a week, and finds Rolex watches, diamond rings and enough wedding bands to increase the divorce rate. He once found a money clip holding $669. Another time, a set of teeth.
But nothing tops what the 44-year-old came across about three weeks ago: a Stanley Cup championship ring with an odd story behind it.
"The Holy Grail," he says.
The ring belongs to Jim Pappin, who scored the winning goal in the 1967 Stanley Cup Finals for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto is one of the most storied franchises in professional hockey, and 1967 was the last time the Maple Leafs won the Cup.
DesErmia was neck-deep in Clearwater Pass when the beeper on his $1,200 detector sounded. A sports memorabilia collector offered $20,000 for the ring, but he wants to return it to Pappin.
"I want to look back on this years from now and have a good feeling about it," said DesErmia. "I don't want to think, 'Gee, I should have returned it.'
"I've been wearing it, and I think, 'What did he go through to win this ring?' I think it would mean a great deal to him to have it back, and hopefully he'll reward me for it."
Just how does a championship hockey ring won in Canada find its way into the Gulf of Mexico in Florida?
Well, Toronto traded Pappin to the Chicago Blackhawks in 1968, and Pappin said he was so angry that he gave the ring to his father-in-law, the late Peter Kyrzakos, who lived in Vero Beach.
Sometime in the 1970s Kyrzakos lost the ring while swimming, presumably near Clearwater. Distraught, Kyrzakos hired divers who searched two days for it.
Kyrzakos then contacted ex-Toronto player Eddie Shack and asked to borrow Shack's ring. He took the ring to a jeweler and had an identical one made with Pappin's name on it.
In 1982, when Pappin got divorced, Kyrzakos finally told Pappin that he had lost his ring, and gave him the new one.
Pappin wore the new ring every day for more than two decades and forgot about the original.
Even Pappin's second wife, Peggy, did not know. She found out Wednesday when Pappin, who is in Toronto, was contacted about DesErmia's discovery.
"It's amazing," said the 67-year-old Pappin.
On Thursday morning the story was front-page news in the Toronto Star, Canada's largest newspaper.
For Pappin, a ring of honor
The ring DesErmia found has a one-carat diamond inside a maple leaf, and one side shows an engraving of the Stanley Cup.
Pappin's name is engraved inside the ring.
The ring's face says "Stanley Cup champions, 1964 and 1967." Pappin played on both championship teams.
In the 1960s, Toronto won four titles in six years, and instead of issuing new rings each year, the team just added to the originals.
Teams began issuing Stanley Cup rings as far back as 1893. The average cost of a ring today is $25,000, and a team can spend in excess of $1 million on rings.
Pappin, who played in the NHL for 14 seasons, led the 1967 playoffs in goals and points.
His goal in the sixth game of the Stanley Cup Finals gave Toronto the series win over Montreal, something similar to the Red Sox beating the Yankees.
DesErmia is always on the lookout for lost Super Bowl, World Series or Stanley Cup rings. He's never found one ... until now.
"The odds are very rare," said DesErmia. "No one ever loses a ring like this."
Well, not exactly. Tampa Bay Lightning equipment manager Vincent Humphries lost his 2004 Stanley Cup ring on Interstate 75 in South Carolina while changing a flat tire.
Treasure hunting is his life
DesErmia's interest in metal detectors began when he was 16.
That's when he lost a necklace swimming at Siesta Public Beach that his parents bought for his birthday.
"I really felt poorly," he said. "They spent a lot of money on it."
Today he is semi-retired and earns income off a rental property he owns.
He travels the west coast of Florida in a Chevy camper he bought for $2,000 and spends 8 to 10 hours a day combing the Gulf with a metal detector in his hand, and a parrot named Reno on his shoulder.
He is usually surrounded by fish, and the occasional manatee will approach him, too. Sharks stay away. He never misses a sunset.
He often sleeps in state parks, and every once in a while on the Sunshine Skyway Bridge fishing pier.
"I get up every morning excited about doing this," he said.
He finds a lot of necklaces now. Men's rings, too.
He figures men are more active in the water.
He always tries to find the owners and hopes for a reward.
"I'll take whatever they give me," he said.
Once, he said he found a diamond ring worth $50,000 and received a reward of $50.
Another time he received a reward of $500 for a $1,000 ring.
Meanwhile, Kyrzakos' granddaughter is getting married Aug. 31 in Canada, and Pappin thinks the found ring is some kind of sign from Kyrzakos.
"It seems funny the thing would show up now," Pappin said.
DesErmia is just amazed by the history behind the ring.
"It's the coolest thing I've ever found," he said.
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20070824/NEWS/708240550
kenb
