Prince of Wales Trophy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Prince of Wales Trophy, or simply the Wales Trophy, is a National Hockey League trophy awarded to the Eastern Conference (formerly the Wales Conference) playoff champions. The Montreal Canadiens have claimed this trophy 25 times, the most of any team. The next highest is 15, held by the Boston Bruins. The current holders of the Prince of Wales Trophy are the Stanley Cup Champion Carolina Hurricanes.
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[edit] History
The Prince of Wales Trophy was donated by His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII), 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 champion for the Stanley Cup. After the WHL folded and the Stanley Cup was awarded exclusively to the NHL playoff champion, the Prince of Wales Trophy was awarded to the regular season 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.
With the Modern Era expansion in the 1967-68 NHL 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 1974-75 NHL season, the award was transferred to the team that finished with the best regular-season record in the Wales Conference. Starting with the 1981-82 NHL season, 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 NHL season the Eastern Conference playoff champions have won the award.
A tradition (or rather 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 other conference trophy, the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl) when they have won the conference playoffs; the players feel that the Stanley Cup is the true championship trophy and thus it should be the only trophy that they should be hoisted.
[edit] List of Prince of Wales Trophy Winners
[edit] NHL playoff champions
[edit] American Division champions
- 1926-27 - Ottawa Senators
- 1927-28 - Boston Bruins
- 1928-29 - Boston Bruins
- 1929-30 - Boston Bruins
- 1930-31 - Boston Bruins
- 1931-32 - New York Rangers
- 1932-33 - Boston Bruins
- 1933-34 - Detroit Red Wings
- 1934-35 - Boston Bruins
- 1935-36 - Detroit Red Wings
- 1936-37 - Detroit Red Wings
- 1937-38 - Boston Bruins
[edit] Regular Season champions
- 1938-39 - Boston Bruins
- 1939-40 - Boston Bruins
- 1940-41 - Boston Bruins
- 1941-42 - New York Rangers
- 1942-43 - Detroit Red Wings
- 1943-44 - Montreal Canadiens
- 1944-45 - Montreal Canadiens
- 1945-46 - Montreal Canadiens
- 1946-47 - Montreal Canadiens
- 1947-48 - Toronto Maple Leafs
- 1948-49 - Detroit Red Wings
- 1949-50 - Detroit Red Wings
- 1950-51 - Detroit Red Wings
- 1951-52 - Detroit Red Wings
- 1952-53 - Detroit Red Wings
- 1953-54 - Detroit Red Wings
- 1954-55 - Detroit Red Wings
- 1955-56 - Montreal Canadiens
- 1956-57 - Detroit Red Wings
- 1957-58 - Montreal Canadiens
- 1958-59 - Montreal Canadiens
- 1959-60 - Montreal Canadiens
- 1960-61 - Montreal Canadiens
- 1961-62 - Montreal Canadiens
- 1962-63 - Toronto Maple Leafs
- 1963-64 - Montreal Canadiens
- 1964-65 - Detroit Red Wings
- 1965-66 - Montreal Canadiens
- 1966-67 - Chicago Black Hawks
[edit] East Division regular season champions
- 1967-68 - Montreal Canadiens
- 1968-69 - Montreal Canadiens
- 1969-70 - Chicago Black Hawks
- 1970-71 - Boston Bruins
- 1971-72 - Boston Bruins
- 1972-73 - Montreal Canadiens
- 1973-74 - Boston Bruins
[edit] Wales Conference regular season champions
- 1974-75 - Buffalo Sabres
- 1975-76 - Montreal Canadiens
- 1976-77 - Montreal Canadiens
- 1977-78 - Montreal Canadiens
- 1978-79 - Montreal Canadiens
- 1979-80 - Buffalo Sabres
- 1980-81 - Montreal Canadiens
[edit] Wales Conference playoffs champions
- 1981-82 - New York Islanders
- 1982-83 - New York Islanders
- 1983-84 - New York Islanders
- 1984-85 - Philadelphia Flyers
- 1985-86 - Montreal Canadiens
- 1986-87 - Philadelphia Flyers
- 1987-88 - Boston Bruins
- 1988-89 - Montreal Canadiens
- 1989-90 - Boston Bruins
- 1990-91 - Pittsburgh Penguins
- 1991-92 - Pittsburgh Penguins
- 1992-93 - Montreal Canadiens
[edit] Eastern Conference playoffs champions
- 1993-94 - New York Rangers
- 1994-95 - New Jersey Devils
- 1995-96 - Florida Panthers
- 1996-97 - Philadelphia Flyers
- 1997-98 - Washington Capitals
- 1998-99 - Buffalo Sabres
- 1999-00 - New Jersey Devils
- 2000-01 - New Jersey Devils
- 2001-02 - Carolina Hurricanes
- 2002-03 - New Jersey Devils
- 2003-04 - Tampa Bay Lightning
- 2004-05 - No winner due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout
- 2005-06 - Carolina Hurricanes
