Prince of Wales Trophy (National Hockey League)

The Prince of Wales Trophy

The Prince of Wales Award derives its name from his Royal Highness Prince Edward (later King Edward VIII and then Duke of Windsor), the Prince of Wales, who donated the trophy in his name to the NHL 1924.

The trophy is considered to be one of the most beautiful trophies at the Hockey Hall of Fame. It stands at over a foot in height and is supported by four silver hockey sticks. At its base are four small gold pucks, and in the center directly under the bowl rests a distinctive mound of uncut glass. The base is square, but the base corners have been cut off to incorporate four small silver plates upon which the winner’s names are adorned. Directly on the base’s front, the trophy’s name is attached via silver plating, in large lettering featuring three sets of dripping icicles. The first winners of the Wales mug were the Montreal Canadians, winning it in 1924 over the Calgary Tigers by scores of 6-1 and 3-0, capturing the Stanley Cup along with the Wales Bowl.

Wales Trophy Introduced

For the first two years of the Wales Trophy’s inception, the trophy was not given to the first-place team at the end of the regular season but instead to the NHL champion, the team that won the playoff format. In 1926, the NHL moved to a two-division league and thus began awarding the Wales Bowl to the league champion (first-place finisher). In 1928, the bowl was awarded to the team finishing first in the American Division, while the Canadian Division winners received the O’Brien Trophy. In 1938, when the league reverted to a one-division league, the trophy was awarded to the first-place team. With the expansion in 1967, and the league doubling from six teams to twelve teams, the Wales Bowl was awarded to the first-place team in the East Division to complement the Campbell Bowl, which was awarded to the first-place finisher of the West Division. By 1974 the NHL had expanded to 14 teams. The league introduced two conferences, The Campbell Conference and the Wales Conference, each conference contained two divisions, and the first-place winner of each conference was awarded the corresponding trophy. In 1981 the silverware was granted to the playoff champion of its corresponding conference, and in 1993 when the league changed the names of the divisions and conferences to geographical names, the distinguished bowl was awarded to the playoff champion of its conference.

This historic piece of NHL hardware has had more moves than Allied Van Lines.

The Winners (Prince of Wales Award)

Over the course of the NHL’s history, no team has won the Prince of Wales Trophy more than the Montreal Canadians, winning it on 24 occasions; Les Canadians De Montreal were the first winners in 1924. Both the Detroit Red Wings and the Boston Bruins have won their share of the silverware as well. The Bruins won the Wales Trophy 10 times from 1925-1944, and the Wings had unprecedented success in the 1950’s winning in seven consecutive years 1948-1955.