Clarence S. Campbell Bowl

File:Henrik Sedin accepts the trophy.jpg of the 2011 Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks accepts the Campbell Bowl.]]

The Clarence S. Campbell Bowl was donated by the NHL's clubs in recognition of the contributions and services of its namesake, the League President at the start of the Modern Era expansion. Throughout its history it has been a parallel to the Prince of Wales Trophy, using the same criteria in the opposite competitive grouping. From its inception in the {{nhly|1967}} season through to {{nhly|1973}} it was awarded to the first-place finisher in the West Division during the regular season. With NHL realignment in 1974–75, it was given to the team with the best regular season record in the Campbell Conference (the successor to the West Division) through the {{nhly|1980}} season. Beginning with the {{nhly|1981}} season, it switched to the Campbell Conference playoff champions, and since the {{nhly|1993}} season, when the Campbell Conference became the Western Conference, the trophy has gone to the Western Conference playoff champions.

A traditional superstition that is prevalent among many of today's NHL players is that no player should either touch or hoist the Campbell (Western Conference champion) or Prince of Wales (Eastern Conference champion) trophies after they have won the conference playoffs; these players feel that the Stanley Cup is the true championship trophy and thus it should be the only trophy that they should be hoisting. Instead of touching the conference trophy, the captain of the winning team merely poses (usually looking solemn) with the trophy, and sometimes, the entire team poses as well. There have been other teams, however, that have ignored the superstition and hoisted the conference trophy and then went on to win the Cup anyway.{{cite web | url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=563750 | title=Conference trophies: to touch, or not to touch? | first=Emily | last=Kaplan | publisher=NHL.com | date=2011-05-28 | access-date=2011-11-12 | archive-date=January 15, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115111544/http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=563750 | url-status=live }}{{cite web | title=NHL.com - Ice Age: Having another trophy in mind | url=http://www.nhl.com/features/iceage/main060206.html | first=Phil | last=Coffey | date=June 2, 2006|access-date=July 25, 2006}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}{{Cite web |last=O'Donnell |first=Kelly |date=May 31, 2015 |title=How Real is the Wales Trophy and Campbell Bowl Jinx? |url=https://thehockeywriters.com/how-real-is-the-wales-trophy-and-campbell-bowl-jinx/ |access-date=November 21, 2022 |website=The Hockey Writers |archive-date=November 21, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221121211734/https://thehockeywriters.com/how-real-is-the-wales-trophy-and-campbell-bowl-jinx/ |url-status=live }}

The NHL temporarily suspended the conferences and re-aligned the league into four temporary divisions for the 2020–21 NHL season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the semifinal round of the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs was contested between the winners of the divisional playoffs and they were seeded according to their regular season record. Initially the trophy was not going to be awarded,{{cite web |website=nhl.com |publisher=NHL |url=https://www.nhl.com/news/stanley-cup-playoffs-critical-questions/c-324708710 |title=Stanley Cup Playoffs: Key questions, answers |date=May 14, 2021 |first=Nicholas |last=Cotsonika |access-date=May 15, 2021 |archive-date=May 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514224448/https://www.nhl.com/news/stanley-cup-playoffs-critical-questions/c-324708710 |url-status=live }} but it was later decided that the Campbell Bowl would be awarded to the winner of the Stanley Cup semifinals between the North and West divisions. Eventually, Montreal Canadiens (the only Eastern Conference team in that half of the "bracket") defeated the Vegas Golden Knights to win their first and (barring a further change in the playoff format) only Campbell Bowl in their history.{{cite web |title=#NHLStats: Live Updates – June 10, 2021 |url=https://media.nhl.com/public/news/15059 |website=media.nhl.com |access-date=June 11, 2021 |date=June 10, 2021 |quote=In addition to a spot in the Stanley Cup Final, the winner of the Golden Knights–Canadiens series will claim the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl, while the Islanders–Lightning will battle for the Prince of Wales Trophy. |archive-date=June 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611085449/https://media.nhl.com/public/news/15059 |url-status=live }}

;Key

• {{dagger}} – Eventual Stanley Cup champions

• List of National Hockey League awards
• NHL Conference Finals
• Prince of Wales Trophy

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=24932 Clarence S. Campbell Bowl history at NHL.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413194532/http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=24932 |date=April 13, 2017 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070807205838/http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/silver_splashccb.htm Clarence S. Campbell Bowl profile at Legends of Hockey.net]

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Category:National Hockey League trophies and awards

Category:Western Conference (NHL)

Category:NHL conference finals