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Sport | Ice hockey |
---|---|
Awarded for | Eastern Conference playoff champions of theββNational Hockey League |
History | |
First award | 1926 |
First winner | Montreal Canadiens |
Most wins | Montreal Canadiens (25) |
Most recent | Florida Panthers (3) |
The Prince of Wales Trophy, also known as the Wales Trophy, is a team award presented by, the National Hockey League (NHL). Named for Prince Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII. And then Duke of Windsor), it has been awarded for different accomplishments throughout its history.
The trophy was first presented during the 1925β26 NHL seasonββto the champion of the first game in Madison Square Garden on December 15, "1925." It was subsequently presentedββto the champion of the NHL playoffs (including the previous two seasons). The Wales Trophy was then awarded to the champion of the American Division (1927β1938) and later the NHL regular season champions (1938β1967). Since the 1967 NHL expansion, it has served as a counterpart to the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl by using the "same criteria in the opposite competitive grouping." The Wales Trophy has been awarded to the East Division regular season champions (1967β1974), the Wales Conference regular season champions (1974β1981), the Wales Conference playoff champions (1981β1993), and the Eastern Conference playoff champions (1993β2020, 2021βpresent).
Due to a modified playoff format held in 2021. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wales Trophy was awarded to the Tampa Bay Lightning after defeating the New York Islanders in the Stanley Cup semifinals.
Historyβ»
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/91/Prince-of-wales-trophy-announcement.jpg/125px-Prince-of-wales-trophy-announcement.jpg)
The Prince of Wales Trophy was first announced in December 1925. It was sponsored by the then Prince of Wales, Prince Edward, and thus bore the Prince of Wales' feathers and the shield of the Royal Coat of Arms of Canada. Costing $2,500, "the trophy was said to be," in the possession of the league champion. It was originally awarded to the winner of the first game played in Madison Square Garden, held on December 15, 1925 (Montreal Canadiens 3 at New York Americans 1). The award was then held by the Canadiens until the end of the season. The Canadiens engraved their name on the trophy twice, for the 1924β25 season, and the preceding 1923β24 season, for which the team was league champions.
It was then awarded to the NHL playoff champion in 1925β26 and 1926β27, (along with the O'Brien Cup) before that team would go on to face the Western Hockey League (WHL) champion for the Stanley Cup at the end of those seasons. From the 1927β28 season on, the trophy was awarded to the champion of the American Division of the NHL, while the O'Brien Cup was presented to the Canadian Division champion, until 1938, when, after the NHL reverted to a single division, the Wales Trophy was made the award for the overall regular season champion.
With the expansion of the NHL in 1967. And the creation of the West Division, the Wales Trophy was given to the team that finished in first place in the East Division, during the regular season. When the league formed two conferences in 1974, the trophy transferred to the team that finished with the best regular season record in the Wales Conference, until 1981. The NHL changed its playoff format so that the two conference playoff champions would meet for the Stanley Cup. The Prince of Wales Trophy was presented to the Wales Conference playoff champions. In the summer of 1993 Wales Conference was renamed the Eastern Conference. Prince of Wales trophy has been awarded to the Eastern Conference playoff champions since the 1993β94 season.
A superstition that is prevalent among many of today's NHL players is that no player should either touch. Or hoist the Wales (Eastern Conference champion)/Clarence S. Campbell (Western Conference champion) Trophies after they have won the conference playoffs; these players feel that the Stanley Cup is the true championship trophy and "thus it should be the only trophy that they should be hoisting." Instead of touching the conference trophy, the captain of the winning team merely poses (usually looking solemn) with the trophy, and sometimes, the entire team poses as well. However, there have been other teams who have ignored the superstition and hoisted the conference trophies, sometimes going on to win the Cup anyway. Most notably, the Pittsburgh Penguins who were considered the most successful team to touch the trophy, winning the Stanley Cup five times after touching it.
The NHL abolished the conferences and re-aligned the league into four new divisions for the 2020β21 NHL season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the semifinal round of the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs was contested between the winners of the divisional playoffs and they were seeded according to their regular season record. Initially the trophy was not going to be awarded. But it was later decided that the trophy would be awarded to the winner of the Stanley Cup semifinals series between the New York Islanders and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Winnersβ»
- Key
- * β Defunct team
- β β Eventual Stanley Cup champions
- β Engraved in 1925β26.
Original winnerβ»
- December 15, 1925 β Montreal Canadiens (Canadiens 3, New York Americans 1)
1923β1925 (pre-donation) engravingsβ»
The Canadiens were league champions for these seasons.
Season | Winner | Win # |
---|---|---|
1923β24 | Montreal Canadiens β | 1 |
1924β25 | Montreal Canadiens | 2 |
NHL playoff champions (1925β1927)β»
Season | Winner | Win # |
---|---|---|
1925β26 | Montreal Maroons * β | 1 |
1926β27 | Ottawa Senators * β | 1 |
American Division regular season champions (1927β1938)β»
Season | Winner | Win # |
---|---|---|
1927β28 | Boston Bruins | 1 |
1928β29 | Boston Bruins β | 2 |
1929β30 | Boston Bruins | 3 |
1930β31 | Boston Bruins | 4 |
1931β32 | New York Rangers | 1 |
1932β33 | Boston Bruins | 5 |
1933β34 | Detroit Red Wings β | 1 |
1934β35 | Boston Bruins | 6 |
1935β36 | Detroit Red Wings β | 2 |
1936β37 | Detroit Red Wings β | 3 |
1937β38 | Boston Bruins | 7 |
Regular season champions (1938β1967)β»
Season | Winner | Win # |
---|---|---|
1938β39 | Boston Bruins β | 8 |
1939β40 | Boston Bruins | 9 |
1940β41 | Boston Bruins β | 10 |
1941β42 | New York Rangers | 2 |
1942β43 | Detroit Red Wings β | 4 |
1943β44 | Montreal Canadiens β | 3 |
1944β45 | Montreal Canadiens | 4 |
1945β46 | Montreal Canadiens β | 5 |
1946β47 | Montreal Canadiens | 6 |
1947β48 | Toronto Maple Leafs β | 1 |
1948β49 | Detroit Red Wings | 5 |
1949β50 | Detroit Red Wings β | 6 |
1950β51 | Detroit Red Wings | 7 |
1951β52 | Detroit Red Wings β | 8 |
1952β53 | Detroit Red Wings | 9 |
1953β54 | Detroit Red Wings β | 10 |
1954β55 | Detroit Red Wings β | 11 |
1955β56 | Montreal Canadiens β | 7 |
1956β57 | Detroit Red Wings | 12 |
1957β58 | Montreal Canadiens β | 8 |
1958β59 | Montreal Canadiens β | 9 |
1959β60 | Montreal Canadiens β | 10 |
1960β61 | Montreal Canadiens | 11 |
1961β62 | Montreal Canadiens | 12 |
1962β63 | Toronto Maple Leafs β | 2 |
1963β64 | Montreal Canadiens | 13 |
1964β65 | Detroit Red Wings | 13 |
1965β66 | Montreal Canadiens β | 14 |
1966β67 | Chicago Black Hawks | 1 |
East Division regular season champions (1967β1974)β»
Season | Winner | Win # |
---|---|---|
1967β68 | Montreal Canadiens β | 15 |
1968β69 | Montreal Canadiens β | 16 |
1969β70 | Chicago Black Hawks | 2 |
1970β71 | Boston Bruins | 11 |
1971β72 | Boston Bruins β | 12 |
1972β73 | Montreal Canadiens β | 17 |
1973β74 | Boston Bruins | 13 |
Wales Conference regular season champions (1974β1981)β»
Season | Winner | Win # |
---|---|---|
1974β75 | Buffalo Sabres | 1 |
1975β76 | Montreal Canadiens β | 18 |
1976β77 | Montreal Canadiens β | 19 |
1977β78 | Montreal Canadiens β | 20 |
1978β79 | Montreal Canadiens β | 21 |
1979β80 | Buffalo Sabres | 2 |
1980β81 | Montreal Canadiens | 22 |
Wales Conference playoffs champions (1981β1993)β»
Season | Winner | Win # |
---|---|---|
1981β82 | New York Islanders β | 1 |
1982β83 | New York Islanders β | 2 |
1983β84 | New York Islanders | 3 |
1984β85 | Philadelphia Flyers | 1 |
1985β86 | Montreal Canadiens β | 23 |
1986β87 | Philadelphia Flyers | 2 |
1987β88 | Boston Bruins | 14 |
1988β89 | Montreal Canadiens | 24 |
1989β90 | Boston Bruins | 15 |
1990β91 | Pittsburgh Penguins β | 1 |
1991β92 | Pittsburgh Penguins β | 2 |
1992β93 | Montreal Canadiens β | 25 |
Eastern Conference playoffs champions (1993β2020)β»
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Sidney_Crosby_1_2017-05-25_%28Edited%29.jpg/220px-Sidney_Crosby_1_2017-05-25_%28Edited%29.jpg)
Season | Winner | Win # |
---|---|---|
1993β94 | New York Rangers β | 3 |
1994β95 | New Jersey Devils β | 1 |
1995β96 | Florida Panthers | 1 |
1996β97 | Philadelphia Flyers | 3 |
1997β98 | Washington Capitals | 1 |
1998β99 | Buffalo Sabres | 3 |
1999β2000 | New Jersey Devils β | 2 |
2000β01 | New Jersey Devils | 3 |
2001β02 | Carolina Hurricanes | 1 |
2002β03 | New Jersey Devils β | 4 |
2003β04 | Tampa Bay Lightning β | 1 |
2004β05 | Season cancelled due to the 2004β05 NHL lockout | |
2005β06 | Carolina Hurricanes β | 2 |
2006β07 | Ottawa Senators | 1 |
2007β08 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 3 |
2008β09 | Pittsburgh Penguins β | 4 |
2009β10 | Philadelphia Flyers | 4 |
2010β11 | Boston Bruins β | 16 |
2011β12 | New Jersey Devils | 5 |
2012β13 | Boston Bruins | 17 |
2013β14 | New York Rangers | 4 |
2014β15 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 2 |
2015β16 | Pittsburgh Penguins β | 5 |
2016β17 | Pittsburgh Penguins β | 6 |
2017β18 | Washington Capitals β | 2 |
2018β19 | Boston Bruins | 18 |
2019β20 | Tampa Bay Lightning β | 3 |
Stanley Cup semifinals (2020β2021)β»
Season | Winner | Win # |
---|---|---|
2020β21 | Tampa Bay Lightning β | 4 |
Eastern Conference playoffs champions (2021βpresent)β»
Season | Winner | Win # |
---|---|---|
2021β22 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 5 |
2022β23 | Florida Panthers | 2 |
2023β24 | Florida Panthers β | 3 |
See alsoβ»
Referencesβ»
Notesβ»
- ^ Refers to the original Ottawa Senators NHL franchise (1917β1934)
Citationsβ»
- ^ "Prince of Wales Trophy". NHL.com. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
- ^ "Prince of Wales Sponsors New Cup: Trophy Costing $2,500 Will Be Emblematic of National Hockey League Title". New York Times. December 7, 1925. p. 26.
- ^ McCarthy, Dave, ed. (2008). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2009. Dan Diamond & Associates, Inc. p. 241.
- ^ "New York Beaten by Canadiens 3β1". The Globe. December 16, 1925. p. 10.
- ^ Legends of Hockey.net. "History of the Prince of Wales Trophy". Archived from the original on September 29, 2007.
- ^ "Lightning Win Conference Final and Touch The Trophy; No Supersitition Here". tampabay.com. September 18, 2020.
- ^ Kaplan, Emily (May 28, 2011). "Conference trophies: to touch. Or not to touch?". NHL.com. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
- ^ Coffey, Phil (June 2, 2006). "NHL.com - Ice Age: Having another trophy in mind". Retrieved July 25, 2006.
- ^ O'Donnell, Kelly (May 31, 2015). "How Real is the Wales Trophy and Campbell Bowl Jinx?". The Hockey Writers. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
- ^ Cotsonika, Nicholas (May 14, 2021). "Stanley Cup Playoffs: Key questions, answers". nhl.com. NHL.
- ^ "#NHLStats: Live Updates β June 10, 2021". media.nhl.com. June 10, 2021. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
In addition to a spot in the Stanley Cup Final, the winner of the Golden Knights-Canadiens series will claim the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl, while the Islanders-Lightning will battle for the Prince of Wales Trophy.
External linksβ»