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Prince of Wales Trophy

The Prince of Wales Trophy,[1] 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.

Prince of Wales Trophy
SportIce hockey
Awarded 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 (2)

The trophy was first presented during the 1925–26 NHL season to the champion of the first game in Madison Square Garden on December 15, 1925. It was subsequently presented to the champion of the NHL playoffs (including the previous two 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).[1]

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

Announcement in The New York Times

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.[2] 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.[3][4] The Canadiens engraved their name on the trophy twice, for the 1924–25 season, and the preceding 1923–24 season, for which the team was league champions.

It was then awarded to the NHL playoff champion in 1925–26 and 1926–27, (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.[5] From the 1927–28 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.[5]

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.[5]

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.[6][7][8][9]

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,[10] 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.[11]

Winners

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

Original winner

1923–1925 (pre-donation) engravings

The Canadiens were league champions for these seasons.

SeasonWinnerWin #
1923–24Montreal Canadiens †a1
1924–25Montreal Canadiens2

NHL playoff champions (1925–1927)

SeasonWinnerWin #
1925–26Montreal Maroons * †1
1926–27Ottawa Senators[nb 1] * †1

American Division regular season champions (1927–1938)

SeasonWinnerWin #
1927–28Boston Bruins1
1928–29Boston Bruins †2
1929–30Boston Bruins3
1930–31Boston Bruins4
1931–32New York Rangers1
1932–33Boston Bruins5
1933–34Detroit Red Wings †1
1934–35Boston Bruins6
1935–36Detroit Red Wings †2
1936–37Detroit Red Wings †3
1937–38Boston Bruins7

Regular season champions (1938–1967)

SeasonWinnerWin #
1938–39Boston Bruins †8
1939–40Boston Bruins9
1940–41Boston Bruins †10
1941–42New York Rangers2
1942–43Detroit Red Wings †4
1943–44Montreal Canadiens †3
1944–45Montreal Canadiens4
1945–46Montreal Canadiens †5
1946–47Montreal Canadiens6
1947–48Toronto Maple Leafs †1
1948–49Detroit Red Wings5
1949–50Detroit Red Wings †6
1950–51Detroit Red Wings7
1951–52Detroit Red Wings †8
1952–53Detroit Red Wings9
1953–54Detroit Red Wings †10
1954–55Detroit Red Wings †11
1955–56Montreal Canadiens †7
1956–57Detroit Red Wings12
1957–58Montreal Canadiens †8
1958–59Montreal Canadiens †9
1959–60Montreal Canadiens †10
1960–61Montreal Canadiens11
1961–62Montreal Canadiens12
1962–63Toronto Maple Leafs †2
1963–64Montreal Canadiens13
1964–65Detroit Red Wings13
1965–66Montreal Canadiens †14
1966–67Chicago Black Hawks1

East Division regular season champions (1967–1974)

SeasonWinnerWin #
1967–68Montreal Canadiens †15
1968–69Montreal Canadiens †16
1969–70Chicago Black Hawks2
1970–71Boston Bruins11
1971–72Boston Bruins †12
1972–73Montreal Canadiens †17
1973–74Boston Bruins13

Wales Conference regular season champions (1974–1981)

SeasonWinnerWin #
1974–75Buffalo Sabres1
1975–76Montreal Canadiens †18
1976–77Montreal Canadiens †19
1977–78Montreal Canadiens †20
1978–79Montreal Canadiens †21
1979–80Buffalo Sabres2
1980–81Montreal Canadiens22

Wales Conference playoffs champions (1981–1993)

SeasonWinnerWin #
1981–82New York Islanders †1
1982–83New York Islanders †2
1983–84New York Islanders3
1984–85Philadelphia Flyers1
1985–86Montreal Canadiens †23
1986–87Philadelphia Flyers2
1987–88Boston Bruins14
1988–89Montreal Canadiens24
1989–90Boston Bruins15
1990–91Pittsburgh Penguins †1
1991–92Pittsburgh Penguins †2
1992–93Montreal Canadiens †25

Eastern Conference playoffs champions (1993–2020)

Sidney Crosby of the 2017 Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins poses with the Prince of Wales Trophy.
SeasonWinnerWin #
1993–94New York Rangers †3
1994–95New Jersey Devils †1
1995–96Florida Panthers1
1996–97Philadelphia Flyers3
1997–98Washington Capitals1
1998–99Buffalo Sabres3
1999–2000New Jersey Devils †2
2000–01New Jersey Devils3
2001–02Carolina Hurricanes1
2002–03New Jersey Devils †4
2003–04Tampa Bay Lightning †1
2004–05Season cancelled due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout
2005–06Carolina Hurricanes †2
2006–07Ottawa Senators1
2007–08Pittsburgh Penguins3
2008–09Pittsburgh Penguins †4
2009–10Philadelphia Flyers4
2010–11Boston Bruins †16
2011–12New Jersey Devils5
2012–13Boston Bruins17
2013–14New York Rangers4
2014–15Tampa Bay Lightning2
2015–16Pittsburgh Penguins †5
2016–17Pittsburgh Penguins †6
2017–18Washington Capitals †2
2018–19Boston Bruins18
2019–20Tampa Bay Lightning †3

Stanley Cup Semifinals (2020–2021)

SeasonWinnerWin #
2020–21Tampa Bay Lightning †4

Eastern Conference playoffs champions (2021–present)

SeasonWinnerWin #
2021–22Tampa Bay Lightning5
2022–23Florida Panthers2

See also

References

Notes

Citations

External links


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