NHL playoffs 2023 - Golden Knights won't touch Western Conference trophy - ESPN

DALLAS — The Clarence S. Campbell Bowl was placed on a black tablecloth adorned with NHL logos, glistening under the arena lights. It was presented to the Vegas Golden Knights, who eliminated the Dallas Stars in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final on Monday night to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

As the Vegas captains surrounded the table, the hockey world wondered: Would they touch the trophy or succumb to NHL superstition by leaving it alone?

They did not touch it. Even though the Florida Panthers, whom the Knights will face in the Stanley Cup Final, did touch the Prince of Wales Trophy, which is awarded to the Eastern Conference winner.

«The one that we want to touch is four wins away,» said Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault.

The two trophies have been handed out to teams in some fashion since 1967. In 1993-94, the NHL began giving out the Campbell Bowl to the Western Conference playoff champion and the Wales Trophy to the Eastern Conference playoff champion.

In 1997, the Philadelphia Flyers won the Eastern Conference title. Their captain Eric Lindros refused to touch the Wales Trophy, a move credited with starting a peculiar tradition in the NHL in which teams that won a championship refused to properly acknowledge the trophy they earned.

There are two primary motivations for that behavior. The first one is symbolic. As Marchessault inferred, teams believe they haven't won anything until they hoist the Stanley Cup, so why celebrate something less significant than hockey's Holy Grail?

The other one is pure sports superstition: The belief that touching the conference trophy can somehow impact a team's ability to win the Stanley Cup.

Marchessault could be heard on the ice after Game 6 encouraging his teammates