The original Winnipeg Jets never appeared in the conference finals, and after moving to become the Phoenix Coyotes the franchise did not even win a playoff series until the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs when they advanced to the conference finals. The Hartford Whalers never advanced to a conference final, however after they relocated to become the Carolina Hurricanes, they did so four times (2002 as the eventual Cup finalists, 2006 as the eventual Cup champions, 2009, and 2019). After that season, the league revived the conferences for the 2021–22 season. The league decided in June 2021 to award the trophies (one per team) to the two victors of the Stanley Cup Semifinals. The only exception to this practice was the pandemic-affected 2020–21 season that was played without conferences. The winner of the Eastern Conference finals still receives the Prince of Wales Trophy, while the winner of the Western Conference finals still receives the Clarence S. Therefore, the Campbell Conference became the Western Conference and the Wales Conference became the Eastern Conference. At the instigation of then-new NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, the NHL made the change to help non-hockey fans better understand the game, as the National Basketball Association uses geographic-based names for their conferences and divisions, and the National Football League, and Major League Baseball use geographic-based names for their divisions. Thus, the first official Conference finals were held in 1982.īeginning in the 1993–94 season, the names of conferences and divisions were changed to reflect their geographic locations. The regular season and playoffs were also altered to emphasize divisional match-ups. The NHL was hoping to reduce travel costs in the face of a struggling economy and high energy prices. Furthermore, all playoff teams were seeded regardless of conference.īeginning in the 1981–82 season, the conferences and the playoffs were realigned. At the time, the new conferences and divisions had little to do with North American geography and geographical references were removed. The East and West Divisions were renamed the Prince of Wales and Clarence Campbell Conferences, respectively. From the 1967–68 season through the 1973–74 season, the NHL was made up of two divisions (as opposed to conferences), the East Division and the West Division.įollowing the 1973–74 season, the NHL again realigned. Further information: Stanley Cup playoffsīefore the 1967–68 season, the NHL was made up only of a single division.
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