Prince of Wales Trophy
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox sports award The Prince of Wales Trophy,<ref name="NHL">Template:Cite web</ref> also known as the Wales Trophy, is a team award presented by the National Hockey League (NHL). Named for 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 on December 15, 1925, to the winner of the first game in Madison Square Garden. That Template:Nhly was also the last season for which the Stanley Cup was not yet exclusive to the NHL, so the trophy was presented to that season's NHL playoffs championTemplate:Sndand retroactively presented to the playoff champion of the previous two NHL seasons. The Wales Trophy was then awarded to the champion of the American Division (1927–1938) and later the NHL regular season champions (1938–1967). 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 (1967–1974), the Wales Conference regular season champions (1974–1981), the Wales Conference playoff champions (1981–1993), and the Eastern Conference playoff champions (1993–2020, 2021–present).<ref name="NHL" />
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.
History
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,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> duplicating the already existing O'Brien Cup for that purpose. To introduce the new trophy into the NHL, it was awarded as a place keeper 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 trophy was held onto by the Canadiens until the end of the season, when it was presented, for the first time, for its founding purposeTemplate:Sndto honour the NHL playoff champion.<ref name="nhl-guide-241">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> While the new trophy was in their possession, the CanadiensTemplate:Sndwho had been the O'Brien Cup-winning NHL playoff championships in Template:Nhly and Template:NhlyTemplate:Sndretroactively engraved their name on the trophy for those seasons.
The Prince of Wales Trophy was then awarded to the NHL playoff champion in Template:Nhly and Template:Nhly, along with the pre-existing 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.<ref name=Wales>Template:Cite web</ref> From the in Template:Nhly 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.<ref name=Wales/>
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 1993–94 season.<ref name=Wales/>
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) or 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.<ref> Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web Template:Dead link</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The NHL abolished the conferences and re-aligned the league into four new divisions for the 2020–21 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,<ref name="NHL2021">Template:Cite web</ref> but it was later decided that the trophy would be awarded to the winner of the Stanley Cup semifinals series between the East and Central divisions, eventually being the New York Islanders and the Tampa Bay Lightning.<ref name="SCS2021">Template:Cite web</ref>
Winners
| Wins | Team |
|---|---|
| 25 | Montreal Canadiens |
| 18 | Boston Bruins |
| 13 | Detroit Red Wings |
| 6 | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| 5 | New Jersey Devils |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | |
| 4 | Florida Panthers |
| New York Rangers | |
| Philadelphia Flyers | |
| 3 | Buffalo Sabres |
| New York Islanders | |
| 2 | Carolina Hurricanes |
| Chicago Blackhawks | |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | |
| Washington Capitals | |
| 1 | Montreal Maroons |
| Ottawa Senators | |
| Ottawa Senators (original)<ref group="nb" name="OTTOriginal"/> |
- Key
- Template:Asterisk – Defunct team
- Template:Dagger – Eventual Stanley Cup champions
- a – Engraved in 1925–26.<ref name="nhl-guide-241" />
Original winner
- December 15, 1925 – Montreal Canadiens (Canadiens 3, New York Americans 1)
1923–1925 (pre-donation) engravings
The Canadiens were league champions for these seasons.
| Season | Winner | Win # |
|---|---|---|
| Template:NHL Year | Montreal Canadiens Template:Daggera | 1 |
| Template:NHL Year | Montreal Canadiens | 2 |
NHL playoff champions (1925–1927)
| Season | Winner | Win # |
|---|---|---|
| Template:NHL Year | Montreal Maroons Template:Asterisk Template:Dagger | 1 |
| Template:NHL Year | Ottawa Senators<ref group="nb" name="OTTOriginal">Refers to the original Ottawa Senators NHL franchise (1917–1934)</ref> Template:Asterisk Template:Dagger | 1 |
American Division regular season champions (1927–1938)
Regular season champions (1938–1967)
East Division regular season champions (1967–1974)
Wales Conference regular season champions (1974–1981)
Wales Conference playoffs champions (1981–1993)
Eastern Conference playoffs champions (1993–2020)
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Stanley Cup semifinals (2020–2021)
| Season | Winner | Win # |
|---|---|---|
| Template:Nhly | Tampa Bay Lightning Template:Dagger | 4 |
Eastern Conference playoffs champions (2021–present)
| Season | Winner | Win # |
|---|---|---|
| Template:Nhly | Tampa Bay Lightning | 5 |
| Template:Nhly | Florida Panthers | 2 |
| Template:Nhly | Florida Panthers Template:Dagger | 3 |
| Template:Nhly | Florida Panthers Template:Dagger | 4 |