The Vegas Golden Knights kept with the tradition that worked for them after being awarded the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl on Tuesday.
NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly presented the trophy to Golden Knights captain Mark Stone following a 2-1 win against the Colorado Avalanche in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Stone did not touch the bowl before he and his teammates posed for photos with it.
"Our ultimate goal is to win the other one," Stone said. "We want to win the Stanley Cup. That's the ultimate goal. That's the reason behind that. So, we still have four more wins to accomplish. So, definitely happy with where we are, and we put ourselves in a spot to ultimately compete for it."
The bowl is presented annually to the winner of the West. When the Golden Knights last won the conference in 2023, they did not touch the bowl and went on to win the Stanley Cup, defeating the Florida Panthers in five games. When they reached the Cup Final in their first NHL season (2017-18), they touched it before losing to the Washington Capitals in five games.
"Go with what works," Golden Knights forward Cole Smith said. "The guys who have been here before didn't touch it last time."
Only three teams have touched the bowl dating to 2006-07. In addition to Vegas in 2018, the Edmonton Oilers did so last season before losing to the Panthers in six games, and the Avalanche did so in 2022 before going on to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games.
The Montreal Canadiens did not touch it in 2021, then lost to the Lightning in five games in the Final. The Canadiens, who normally play in the Eastern Conference, were awarded the bowl after defeating the Golden Knights in what was called the Stanley Cup Semifinals because of the temporary divisional realignment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of the 17 teams that did not touch the bowl in the 20 seasons previous to this one, nine went on to win the Stanley Cup, most recently Vegas in 2023.
The Clarence S. Campbell Bowl has been awarded to the Western Conference champion since the 1993-94 season.
The East champion has been awarded the Prince of Wales Trophy since 1993-94.
The Golden Knights will play the Carolina Hurricanes or the Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Final. Carolina has a 3-1 series lead in that conference final with Game 5 at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday (8 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).
