The event raised $2,500 in two hours, as many people gave more than $5 to get their picture taken with the Cup.

Former Spartan Justin Abdelkader, who was a part of the Detroit Red Wings’ championship run last year, played a big part in the decision to bring the cup to East Lansing. Abdelkader and fellow Spartans icers helped orchestrate MSU’s Shoot for a Cure! foundation, which benefits Sparrow’s Cure Kids Cancer.

“All of the proceeds are going straight to the foundation and we were really fortunate the Wings let this fundraiser happen,” said Abdelkader, who wasn’t able to attend the event because of the start of training camp. “Hopefully this will help raise more and more money and raise the awareness for the foundation.”

MSU senior forward Dan Sturges helped Abdelkader start the Shoot for a Cure! foundation last year after both made frequent trips to Sparrow Hospital.

Sturges knew having the Stanley Cup on site would help raise a lot of money and help gain support for the foundation.

“If it was just us trying to promote we might not get this many people,” Sturges said. “But it’s a nice way to get the community involved with something that’s really important to us and hopefully will be really important for some of these people.”

Fans started lining up to see the cup more than an hour before the event was scheduled to start, and more and more fans jumped in line later.

“I’m more excited for this than the football game,” advertising and criminal justice junior Courtney Sullens said. “I’m a huge hockey fan and this is just really cool.”

Nick Alice, a hospitality business freshman, didn’t mind paying the $5 fee to see what he called “the best trophy in sports.”

“I don’t mind paying because trying to fight cancer is such a great cause,” he said.