Why don't NHL teams touch the Conference Finals trophy after winning? Examining reason behind superstition

Vegas Golden Knights v Dallas Stars - Game Six
Vegas Golden Knights v Dallas Stars - Game Six

One of the biggest questions many NHL fans have is will the Eastern and Western Conference winners touch the trophy.

For winning the Eastern Conference and advancing to the Cup, the team is awarded the Prince of Wales trophy while the Western Conference is awarded the Clarence S. Campbell trophy.

Yet, when the trophy is awarded some NHL teams don't touch it or raise it while others do. This is all due to superstition, with some thinking it could be bad luck.

Florida Panthers lift the trophy

After the Florida Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes in four games, they touched the trophy despite all the superstitions.

"The last thing that we're going to do is be superstitious about not touching it," Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk said. "Like, nobody said we were even going to make the playoffs. I think it's pretty cool to touch it, carry it around, and take picture with it. We earned that thing."

As of late, the Tampa Bay Lightning decided to touch the trophy in all three years and won the cup in 2020 and 2021. In 2019, the Boston Bruins did not touch the trophy and lost in NHL's Stanley Cup Final to the St. Louis Blues.

According to many teams, they choose not to touch the trophy as they view it as bad luck and would rather hoist the Stanley Cup as they don't view either of the Conference Finals trophies as their goal.

Meanwhile, five of the last seven teams that won the Stanley Cup have touched the Prince of Wales trophy, as the 2012 Devils, 2013 Bruins, 2014 Rangers, and 2015 Lightning all did not touch it and lost. However, it's worth noting that the 2011 Boston Bruins were the most recent Eastern Conference team to not touch the Prince of Wales trophy and win the Stanley Cup.

Vegas Golden Knights don't touch the trophy

When the Vegas Golden Knights eliminated the Dallas Stars in six games on Monday night, they opted not to touch the trophy.

According to Vegas, they decided not to touch it because they did touch it and lift it in 2018 and lost in the Stanley Cup Final to the Washington Capitals.

"We touched it a lot the first year, and it didn't work well for us," Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault said. "Hopefully, it goes around. We've worked hard to be in that position, but that's not the one we want to touch here."

Since 2007, only two teams have lifted the Clarence S. Campbell which is the 2018 Golden Knights who lost and the 2022 Colorado Avalanche who won the Cup.

"I asked the guys. I'm not a superstitious guy at all, so I was game for whatever they decided," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "It's their moment. If they wanted to pass it around, great. If not, that's fine by me too."

Of the 14 NHL teams that did not touch the trophy in the previous 16 seasons, eight went on to win the Stanley Cup, most recently the St. Louis Blues in 2019. But, whether teams touch it or not is a big conversation around the NHL.

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Edited by John Maxwell
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