The Conference Winner Trophies: To Touch or Not to Touch?
It's almost time to once again watch the presentations of the Conference Final Trophies- The Campbell Bowl (West) and the Prince of Wales Trophy (East). The question is will the victorious teams touch the trophies or not? I think it's safe to say that Crosby and the Penguins will definitely touch, and possibly skate around the ice with the Prince of Wales Trophy, should they win, considering they did this in 1991, 1992, 2009, and 2016, but failed to do so in 2008 the only year they lost in the Final.
As for Nashville, Ottawa, and Anaheim, who knows? The tradition of not touching the trophies dates back to 1997, when Eric Lindros refused to touch the Prince of Wales Trophy. Lindros and the Flyers would get swept by the Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Final. The second time a team refused to touch the Wales Trophy, Mike Peca and the Buffalo Sabres would lose in 6 games to Dallas in the 1999 Final. The third time this happened was when Paul Kariya and Anaheim refused to touch the Campbell Bowl in 2003. The Ducks lost to the Devils in 7 games in the Final.
Despite this superstition never working, it somehow became common place. More often than not, the Trophies are not touched, and on occasion the team will skate by the presenter, and not bother to have a photo taken. In 2004, Iginla touched and posed with the Campbell Bowl, while Dave Andreychuk refused to touch the Wales Trophy. Since that time, more often than not, the trophy is not touched. Statistics do not support that a team is any more likely to win the Stanley Cup by not touching the Conference Trophies, since the lockout years.
Before anyone mentions what happened in 2004, I think I would like to point out that the Gelinas goal crossed the line in Game 6. The Flames were robbed in 2004.
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Before anyone mentions what happened in 2004, I think I would like to point out that the Gelinas goal crossed the line in Game 6. The Flames were robbed in 2004.
Thanks for posting this, it was now 13 years ago, and it is about time to resurrect this discussion.
Like dieter's monkey, it must be touched as it is hard to get to this point and every victory should be celebrated.
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Wait, I always thought the stupid superstition began because Yzerman refused to touch the Campbell Bowl in 1997 after he had touched it in 1995 (and they lost to the Devils in the Final). Since they won the Cup in 1997, he refused to ever touch it again and other teams started to copy them.
Yet, here you have Yzerman touching it (5:45)...
Lindros not touching it (24:00)...
Yzerman also touched it in 1998 and 2002. So, why did the superstition ever take root?
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I have never heard of a superstition surrounding the conference trophies. The only one I know of is never touching the Stanley cup unless you have won it.
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I have never heard of a superstition surrounding the conference trophies. The only one I know of is never touching the Stanley cup unless you have won it.
I'm weirdly ok with this one because it's not about a superstition necessarily, but rather deep, deep respect for the cup. You have to EARN the right to touch it if you're a hockey player. It helps with motivation as far as I'm concerned.
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If we can't fall in love with replaceable bottom 6 players then the terrorists have won.
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I'm weirdly ok with this one because it's not about a superstition necessarily, but rather deep, deep respect for the cup. You have to EARN the right to touch it if you're a hockey player. It helps with motivation as far as I'm concerned.
I am ok with it as well, but you'd have to agree that there is a definite thought of superstition in the back of each players mind when in the presence of the cup. Hell I don't consider myself superstitious, and when I first saw the cup in person I had to think to myself whether it was ok to touch it, and I had a guaranteed zero percent chance of ever playing for it, lol.
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You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. Winston Churchill
I'm weirdly ok with this one because it's not about a superstition necessarily, but rather deep, deep respect for the cup. You have to EARN the right to touch it if you're a hockey player. It helps with motivation as far as I'm concerned.
i chuckled last summer when i did pics for justin schultz when he had the cup for a day... RNH was at his party and not only did he not touch the cup, he was almost trying to make sure he wasn't in pics with the cup. he definitely went and checked the cup out, but didn't get too close. heh.
i must confess that probably the coolest thing for me (aside from hanging out with 'stan' for the day) was getting to drink from the cup - that was pretty sweet!
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I never thought of it as a superstition. I always though of it as a nothing trophy, so why bother? You haven't won anything. There is one goal.
Can't stand the way baseball celebrates series victories.
Getting into the playoffs and winning a series is a bigger accomplishment in baseball, plus it's shorter playoffs.
I disagree though, it's not a nothing trophy. It's a huge accomplishment that very few teams even get to. Conference championships should be celebrated a little more, imo.
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I'm weirdly ok with this one because it's not about a superstition necessarily, but rather deep, deep respect for the cup. You have to EARN the right to touch it if you're a hockey player. It helps with motivation as far as I'm concerned.
You could say the same thing about touching the Conference Trophies. You haven't won Stanley yet so don't celebrate this.
Getting into the playoffs and winning a series is a bigger accomplishment in baseball, plus it's shorter playoffs.
I disagree though, it's not a nothing trophy. It's a huge accomplishment that very few teams even get to. Conference championships should be celebrated a little more, imo.
Eye on the prize.
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The Conference Winner Trophies: To Touch or Not to Touch?
