Prince of Wales Trophy

The Prince of Wales Trophy, often called the Wales Trophy, is an NHL team award named after Edward, Prince of Wales (who later became King Edward VIII and then the Duke of Windsor). Its purpose has changed several times over the years. It was first given out on December 15, 1925, to the winner of the very first game played at Madison Square Garden. The trophy was announced in December 1925, sponsored by Prince Edward himself. It featured the Prince of Wales’ feathers and the shield from the Royal Coat of Arms of Canada. Costing $2,500, it was meant to be held by the league champion, similar to the existing O'Brien Cup. To introduce it, the trophy was awarded as a placeholder to the winner of that first Madison Square Garden game—the Montreal Canadiens beat the New York Americans 3–1. The Canadiens kept the trophy until the end of the season, when it was officially presented for its original purpose: honoring the NHL playoff champion. While they held it, the Canadiens who had been the O'Brien Cup-winning NHL playoff championships in and retroactively engraved their name on the trophy for those seasons. The Wales Trophy was awarded to the NHL playoff champion for the 1925–26 and 1926–27 seasons, alongside the O'Brien Cup, before that team faced the Western Hockey League champion for the Stanley Cup. Starting in 1927–28, it went to the champion of the NHL’s American Division, while the O'Brien Cup went to the Canadian Division champion. This lasted until 1938, when the NHL returned to a single division and the Wales Trophy became the award for the overall regular season champion. After the NHL expanded in 1967 and created the West Division, the trophy was given to the first-place team in the East Division during the regular season. When the league formed two conferences in 1974, it went to the team with the best regular season record in the Wales Conference, a practice that continued until 1981. That year, the NHL changed its playoff format so that the two conference playoff champions would meet for the Stanley Cup, and the Prince of Wales Trophy was presented to the Wales Conference playoff champion. In the summer of 1993, the Wales Conference was renamed the Eastern Conference, and the trophy has been awarded to the Eastern Conference playoff champion since the 1993–94 season.