Stanley Cup makes visit to Europe to mark 100th anniversary of IIHF

European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering, right, poses next to the Stanley Cup, with Slovakia's member of the European parliament and former NHL player Peter Stastny during an exhibition to celebrate the 100th anniversary of international ice hockey at the European Parliament in Brussels, Tuesday, April 15, 2008. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Yves Logghe

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The Stanley Cup is visiting Europe to help mark the 100th anniversary of the International Ice Hockey Federation.

Former NHL greats Peter Stastny, Slava Fetisov, Jyrki Lumme and Arturs Irbe were on hand to present the Cup to lawmakers and fans Tuesday at the European Parliament.

"Hopefully we can start a new tradition, and we might have, maybe not once a year, but once a while, have the Stanley Cup here at the European Parliament," said Stastny, who is now a lawmaker at the EU assembly.

The Cup was swarmed by fans who wanted a picture with the trophy, or with Stastny and Fetisov, who is now Russia's sports minister.

Phil Pritchard, the vice-president of the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, said the Cup will return home Wednesday to await the winner of the NHL playoffs.

"Obviously it's very close to the NHL playoffs, (but) the timing was perfect. We were able to do it," Pritchard said.