Clarence S. Campbell Bowl


The Clarence S. Campbell Bowl, or simply the Campbell Bowl, is a National Hockey League trophy awarded to the Western Conference playoff champions. It is named after Clarence Campbell, who served as President of the NHL from to. The trophy itself is constructed of sterling silver, crafted in 1878. The St. Louis Blues are the current holders of the trophy, after defeating the San Jose Sharks in the 2019 Western Conference Finals.

History

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. 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 season through to 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 through the season. Beginning with the season, it switched to the Campbell Conference playoff champions, and since the season, when the Campbell Conference became the Western Conference, 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 or Prince of Wales 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 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.

Winners

;Key

Campbell Conference regular season champions (1974–1981)

Campbell Conference playoffs champions (1981–1993)

Western Conference playoffs champions (1993–present)