The Florida Panthers decided to do something different this season when they were presented with the Prince of Wales Trophy and are hoping it pays off.
NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly presented the trophy to captain Aleksander Barkov following a 2-1 win against the New York Rangers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Saturday. Barkov did not touch the trophy before he and his teammates posed for photos with it.
Last season, the Panthers touched and skated around the trophy, with forward Matthew Tkachuk saying, "The last thing that we're going to do is be is superstitious about not touching it. 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 pictures with it. We earned that thing."
However, Florida would then lose in five games to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Cup Final.
In 1996, the only other time the Panthers won the Prince of Wales Trophy, captain Brian Skrudland lifted the trophy; the Panthers were then swept by the Avalanche in the Cup Final.
The Tampa Bay Lightning, who won the trophy from 2020-22, touched it all three times, but were defeated in the Cup Final by the Colorado Avalanche in six games in 2022. Prior to that, they won the Cup in 2020 against the Dallas Stars and 2021 against the Montreal Canadiens.
Recent history does not appear to be on the Panthers’ side; five of the past eight teams to win the Cup have touched the Prince of Wales Trophy. Prior to 2020, Sidney Crosby touched it in 2016 and in 2017 before helping the Pittsburgh Penguins win the Cup each season, and Alex Ovechkin did the same in 2018 with the Washington Capitals, who won the Cup.
The tradition of not touching the Prince of Wales Trophy hasn't worked out well for the Eastern Conference champion in recent seasons; the Boston Bruins in 2011 are the most recent team to win the Cup after choosing not to touch it. The past five teams to not do so lost in the Cup Final.
Bruins captain Zdeno Chara did not touch the trophy in 2019, and Boston lost to the St. Louis Blues in seven games in the Cup Final. The New Jersey Devils (2012), Bruins (2013), Rangers (2014) and Lightning (2015) all lost in the Cup Final after refusing to touch the trophy.
Because of temporary divisional realignment due to COVID-19 in 2020-21, the third round of the playoffs was renamed the Stanley Cup Semifinals, instead of the conference finals. The Prince of Wales Trophy was awarded to the Lightning after they defeated the New York Islanders in seven games.
The Prince of Wales Trophy has been awarded to the Eastern Conference champion since the 1993-94 season.
Florida will play the Dallas Stars or Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final, beginning June 8. Edmonton leads that series 3-2 and can advance to the Cup Final with a win in Game 6 at home Sunday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, truTV, MAX, SN, TVAS).
