Prince of Wales Trophy

National Hockey League (NHL) trophy

The Prince of Wales Trophy,[1] or simply the Wales Trophy, is a National Hockey League (NHL) trophy awarded to the Eastern Conference (formerly the Wales Conference) playoff champions. The trophy is awarded prior to the final series which are the championship games to decide the winner for the Stanley Cup against the Western Conference's champions. The trophy was first established in the 1923-24 NHL season, for the champion of the NHL playoffs, but it has been the trophy for eight different accomplishments, which also include being the NHL regular season champions, American Division regular season champions, regular season champions, East Division regular season champions, Wales Conference regular season champions, Wales Conference playoffs champions, and Eastern Conference playoffs champions. The current holder of the Prince of Wales Trophy is the Florida Panthers after defeating the New York Rangers in the 2023 Eastern Conference finals.

Prince of Wales Trophy
SportIce hockey
Given forEastern Conference playoff champions of the National Hockey League
History
First award1925–26 NHL season
First winnerMontreal Canadiens
Most winsMontreal Canadiens (25)
Most recentFlorida Panthers (3)

History

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The Prince of Wales Trophy was donated by His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII and the Duke of Windsor), in 1924. It was first presented to the playoff champion of the NHL (replacing the O'Brien Trophy) who then went on to face the Western Hockey League (WHL) champion for the Stanley Cup.[2]

After the WHL folded and the Stanley Cup was awarded only to the NHL playoff champion, the Prince of Wales Trophy was awarded to the regular season champion. From 1927 to 1928 onwards it was awarded to the champion of the NHL American Division while the O'Brien Trophy was awarded to the NHL Canadian Division. It was then repurposed to being the trophy for the overall regular season champion in the 1938-39 NHL season when the NHL reverted to a single division.[2]

With the Modern Era expansion in the 1967–68 season and the creation of the West Division, the Wales Trophy was awarded to the team that finished in first place in the East Division during the regular season. When the league formed two conferences in the season of 1974–75, the award was transferred to the team that finished with the best regular-season record in the Wales Conference. Starting with the 1981–82 campaign, when the league changed its playoff format so that the two teams meeting in the Stanley Cup finals could no longer come from the same conference, the trophy was presented to the Wales Conference playoff champions, and since the 1993–94 season, the Eastern Conference playoff champions have won the award.[2]

Once awarded, the deputy commissioner, currently Bill Daly, would present the trophy to the winning team's captain. However, a traditional superstition that is prevalent among many of today's NHL players is that no player should either touch or hoist the Wales Trophy (or the Western Conference's trophy, the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl) when they have won the conference playoffs as the Eastern Conference champions. Players feel that the Stanley Cup is the only true championship trophy and thus it should be the only trophy that should be hoisted.[3]

Winners

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Total awards won
Wins Team
25 Montreal Canadiens
18 Boston Bruins
13 Detroit Red Wings
6 Pittsburgh Penguins
5 New Jersey Devils
4 New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers
3 Buffalo Sabres
New York Islanders
2 Carolina Hurricanes
Chicago Blackhawks
Tampa Bay Lightning
Toronto Maple Leafs
Washington Capitals
1 Florida Panthers
Montreal Maroons
Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators (original)[nb 1]
Key
  • * Defunct team
  • ^ = Year clinched to lead years won
  • ¤ = Year clinched to lead years consecutively won
  • † = Eventual Stanley Cup champions
  • a = Engraved in 1925–26.[4]

Original winner

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1923–1925 (pre-donation) engravings

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The Canadiens were league champions for these seasons.

Season Winner Win #
1923–24 Montreal Canadiensa 1
1924–25 Montreal Canadiens 2

NHL playoff champions (1925–1927)

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Season Winner Win #
1925–26 Montreal Maroons * † 1
1926–27 Ottawa Senators (original)[nb 1] *† 1

American Division regular season champions (1927–1938)

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Season Winner Win #
1927–28 Boston Bruins 1
1928–29 Boston Bruins 2
1929–30 Boston Bruins 3
1930–31 Boston Bruins 4
1931–32 New York Rangers 1
1932–33 Boston Bruins 5
1933–34 Detroit Red Wings 1
1934–35 Boston Bruins 6
1935–36 Detroit Red Wings 2
1936–37 Detroit Red Wings 3
1937–38 Boston Bruins 7

Regular season champions (1938–1967)

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Season Winner Win #
1938–39 Boston Bruins 8
1939–40 Boston Bruins 9
1940–41 Boston Bruins 10
1941–42 New York Rangers 2
1942–43 Detroit Red Wings 4
1943–44 Montreal Canadiens 3
1944–45 Montreal Canadiens 4
1945–46 Montreal Canadiens 5
1946–47 Montreal Canadiens 6
1947–48 Toronto Maple Leafs 1
1948–49 Detroit Red Wings 5
1949–50 Detroit Red Wings 6
1950–51 Detroit Red Wings 7
1951–52 Detroit Red Wings 8
1952–53 Detroit Red Wings 9
1953–54 Detroit Red Wings ¤ † 10
1954–55 Detroit Red Wings 11
1955–56 Montreal Canadiens 7
1956–57 Detroit Red Wings 12
1957–58 Montreal Canadiens 8
1958–59 Montreal Canadiens 9
1959–60 Montreal Canadiens 10
1960–61 Montreal Canadiens 11
1961–62 Montreal Canadiens 12
1962–63 Toronto Maple Leafs 2
1963–64 Montreal Canadiens 13
1964–65 Detroit Red Wings 13
1965–66 Montreal Canadiens 14
1966–67 Chicago Black Hawks 1

East Division regular season champions (1967–1974)

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Season Winner Win #
1967–68 Montreal Canadiens 15
1968–69 Montreal Canadiens 16
1969–70 Chicago Black Hawks 2
1970–71 Boston Bruins 11
1971–72 Boston Bruins 12
1972–73 Montreal Canadiens ^ † 17
1973–74 Boston Bruins 13

Wales Conference regular season champions (1974–1981)

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Season Winner Win #
1974–75 Buffalo Sabres 1
1975–76 Montreal Canadiens 18
1976–77 Montreal Canadiens 19
1977–78 Montreal Canadiens 20
1978–79 Montreal Canadiens 21
1979–80 Buffalo Sabres 2
1980–81 Montreal Canadiens 22

Wales Conference playoffs champions (1981–1993)

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Season Winner Win #
1981–82 New York Islanders 1
1982–83 New York Islanders 2
1983–84 New York Islanders 3
1984–85 Philadelphia Flyers 1
1985–86 Montreal Canadiens 23
1986–87 Philadelphia Flyers 2
1987–88 Boston Bruins 14
1988–89 Montreal Canadiens 24
1989–90 Boston Bruins 15
1990–91 Pittsburgh Penguins 1
1991–92 Pittsburgh Penguins 2
1992–93 Montreal Canadiens 25

Eastern Conference playoffs champions (1993–2020)

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Sidney Crosby of the 2017 Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins poses with the Prince of Wales Trophy
Season Winner Win #
1993–94 New York Rangers 3
1994–95 New Jersey Devils 1
1995–96 Florida Panthers 1
1996–97 Philadelphia Flyers 3
1997–98 Washington Capitals 1
1998–99 Buffalo Sabres 3
1999–2000 New Jersey Devils 2
2000–01 New Jersey Devils 3
2001–02 Carolina Hurricanes 1
2002–03 New Jersey Devils 4
2003–04 Tampa Bay Lightning 1
2004–05 No winner because of the 2004–05 NHL lockout Season canceled
2005–06 Carolina Hurricanes 2
2006–07 Ottawa Senators 1
2007–08 Pittsburgh Penguins 3
2008–09 Pittsburgh Penguins 4
2009–10 Philadelphia Flyers 4
2010–11 Boston Bruins 16
2011–12 New Jersey Devils 5
2012–13 Boston Bruins 17
2013–14 New York Rangers 4
2014–15 Tampa Bay Lightning 2
2015–16 Pittsburgh Penguins 5
2016–17 Pittsburgh Penguins 6
2017–18 Washington Capitals 2
2018–19 Boston Bruins 18
2019–20 Tampa Bay Lightning 3

Stanley Cup semifinals (2020–2021)

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Season Winner Win #
2020–21 Tampa Bay Lightning 4

Eastern Conference playoffs champions (2021–present)

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Season Winner Win #
2021–22 Tampa Bay Lightning 5
2022–23 Florida Panthers 2
2023–24 Florida Panthers 3
Notes
  1. 1.0 1.1 Refers to the original Ottawa Senators NHL franchise (1917–1934)

Note 1: Refers to the original Ottawa Senators NHL franchise (1917–1934).

References

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  1. NHL.com. "Prince of Wales Trophy".
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Legends of Hockey.net. "History of the Prince of Wales Trophy".
  3. Coffey, Phil (2006-06-02). "NHL.com - Ice Age: Having another trophy in mind". Retrieved 2006-07-25.
  4. McCarthy, Dave, ed. (2008). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2009. Dan Diamond & Associates, Inc. p. 241.

Other websites

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