About 50 people stood in the chilly morning air Saturday as Governor General David Johnston, politicians and hockey greats officially marked the start of construction of a monument to the Stanley Cup on Sparks Street.



"The groundbreaking which we celebrate today is all about dreams," said George Hunter, president of the Lord Stanley's Gift Monument project.



The $2.8-million monument, which will be unveiled in December, will be a large cup made of metal bands and a puck-like bench. It was the winning concept in a design competition.



Hunter remembered the "dreams" that brought them there.



Canada's sixth governor general, Lord Stanley of Preston, had the first dream, to have a trophy awarded to the best hockey team in the Dominion of Canada. After making his intentions known on March 18, 1892, he bought a simple bowl and it became the symbol of hockey excellence across the world.



Even the simple dreams of kids playing street hockey, pretending it's overtime in Game 7 of the championship final, is connected directly to that silver cup, the greatest trophy in sports, Hunter said.



"That dream you all have is what makes the Stanley Cup so important to us as a nation," Hunter said.



Hunter remembered the dream of the late Paul Kitchen, too. Kitchen always wanted a monument to recognizes the Cup's birthplace in the nation's capital and he led the charge to build one until his death in 2015.



The current Stanley Cup and Lord Stanley's original Challenge Cup were on display during the groundbreaking ceremony.





NHL great Dave Keon, Lord Stanley's Gift Monument president George Hunter, Governor General David Johnston and NHL great Frank Mahovlich participate in a "groundbreaking" puck drop for the new Stanley Cup monument on Sparks Street on Saturday, March 18, 2017.

Hunter said he hopes people will learn a bit about Lord Stanley and the trophy's history.



"Now, it's your time to dream," he told the crow