To touch or not to touch: The Conference Trophies

[Jets4Life]

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.

So why is this silly tradition still practiced?

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[Finnished]

Americans and their superstitions. Most somewhat smart people will laugh at these things but even on these boards everyone thinks something like "jinx thread" is a real thing.

 

[vipera1960]

I think it's more of a "mindset" thing than a jinx thing. The teams want to be pumped up for the SCF. Honestly, no one really cares who the conference champions were, so for the players it's just one more playoff round victory. But yes, the no touchy-touchy rule and the guys who go out of their way to avoid the photo op are kind of ridiculous.

 

[Jets4Life]

Americans and their superstitions. Most somewhat smart people will laugh at these things but even on these boards everyone thinks something like "jinx thread" is a real thing.

Lindros, Peca, and Kariya were all Canadian.

It is kind of ridiculous to not touch the trophy. I mean the captain does not ahve to skate around the ice with it, but its nice to have the team pose with the trophy for a photo.

 

[Countdown0]

I think the people who make the decision, probably the captain, coaches, maybe a few other leaders in the locker room, really just have to read the room one this one to be honest.

Yeah, its a dumb superstition, but that's not the point. The placebo effect of not touching it and helping to set your team mates minds at ease is probably worth more than bucking some pointless trend.

So, as I see it: if your team are a superstitious lot, then just play to their superstition. If they aren't do whatever you feel like doing.

 

[Juicy Pop]

Lindros, Peca, and Kariya were all Canadian.

It is kind of ridiculous to not touch the trophy. I mean the captain does not ahve to skate around the ice with it, but its nice to have the team pose with the trophy for a photo.

I don't think it's incorrect to refer to a Canadian as an American in this context though.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Of course touch it. Doesn't make any damn difference in what happens in the finals, unless you think there is some voodoo in the trophy.

 

[vipera1960]

Of course touch it. Doesn't make any damn difference in what happens in the finals, unless you think there is some voodoo in the trophy.

That's the thing that gets me. You don't want to have a big party, so the guys are in the mindset for the final? That I understand. But it's not like touching the thing is going to bring doom upon your family (especially since the other team is also not touching their trophy).

 

[Juicy Pop]

I think it's largely just a gesture. It's more or less a public display of your intent and your focus on the real prize rather than an actual earnest belief that touching it would have some negative consequence.

 

[Summer Rose]

I think it's largely just a gesture. It's more or less a public display of your intent and your focus on the real prize rather than an actual earnest belief that touching it would have some negative consequence.

That's what I think. It's about the attitude you have towards winning your conference rather than physical actions. I mean if you happen to accidentally brush it in your (non) acceptance of the trophy then whatever. It's more of an acknowledgement that "hey, you're going to the finals now." The captain's reaction, ideally, in my opinion, should be a simple "thank you" and then getting on with the quest of winning the Stanley Cup. A pause for a picture, I personally don't necessarily like, but I don't think it's inappropriate either. What would bother me is if they were to take it and skate it around the ice like it were a real accomplishment.

My memory's a bit foggy on it but I think in 2002, Steve Yzerman took the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl and just took it to the locker room. Didn't hoist it above his head or act like it was anything special. What they said to each other in the locker room with the presence of the trophy, I don't know. It doesn't matter, though. In the end of it, the Red Wings won the cup that year, and I don't believe it had anything to do with Yzerman's actions or attitude about the Campbell Bowl.

 

[Shwag33]

Not touching it is better than what MLB guys do. They have a champaign spray shower with skiing goggles after pretty much every win.

 

[Juicy Pop]

Not touching it is better than what MLB guys do. They have a champaign spray shower with skiing goggles after pretty much every win.

Well baseball is a bit a different in that simply reaching the playoffs is a huge achievement for a lot of teams.

I think that winning a Pennant in baseball is simply looked upon more fondly than winning a Conference in hockey given the history behind the AL/NL and the relatively low interaction [20 games out of 162] between the two in the regular season.

 

[Shwag33]

Well baseball is a bit a different in that simply reaching the playoffs is a huge achievement for a lot of teams.

I think that winning a Pennant in baseball is simply looked upon more fondly than winning a Conference in hockey given the history behind the AL/NL and the relatively low interaction [20 games out of 162] between the two in the regular season.

It's still embarrassing. It's one league with a similar amount of teams as the NHL. Only one team celebrates like they won the league in the NHL. Like 12 do in the MLB some multiple times.

 

[BigEezyE22]

I think it's more of a "mindset" thing than a jinx thing. The teams want to be pumped up for the SCF. Honestly, no one really cares who the conference champions were, so for the players it's just one more playoff round victory. But yes, the no touchy-touchy rule and the guys who go out of their way to avoid the photo op are kind of ridiculous.

I care who the conference champions are....those are the only 2 teams that get to play for the cup.

 

[Pick87your71Poison]

The Pens didn't touch it in 2008 and went on to lose to the Red Wings, then they did touch it in 2009 and beat the Red Wings. They stuck with that and touched it last year and beat the Sharks, so I would assume if they win that they will touch it again this year.

Scintillating stuff

 

[GKJ]

it's the dumbest thing about every post-season.

 

[End on a Hinote]

It's stupid as a superstition, as all superstitions are.

But I like it as a way to send a message to everyone.

 

[imouttahereEdWinger]

No team has ever won the cup after picking up the conference finals trophy and moonwalking with it across the ice. That's why no teams ever do that.

 

[Goose]

Americans and their superstitions. Most somewhat smart people will laugh at these things but even on these boards everyone thinks something like "jinx thread" is a real thing.

I don't think there's really a correlation between intelligence and being superstitious.

 

[Goose]

Not touching it is better than what MLB guys do. They have a champaign spray shower with skiing goggles after pretty much every win.

Yeah, the MLB celebrations are getting idiotic. And I say that as a baseball fan too.

 

[HandshakeLine]

it's the dumbest thing about every post-season.

Yep.

 

[MadLuke]

It is one of the least stupid superstition and most fun out there imo, at least it is attached to a team message and mindset about caring only about the main trophy and not totally empty.

 

[Iceman]

I wouldn't do it as a Captain only becausw it would probably tick some teammates off.

 

[The Shovel Penguin]

It probably depends on the team. The Penguins carry the Wales trophy. Crosby did not touch it in 2008, the one year they lost in the finals. The following year, Guerin told him to just enjoy the journey more and they held the trophy and have done that ever since (last year, and would probably do it this year if it comes to that. Lemieux also carried it for the Pens in 91 and 92)

Americans and their superstitions. Most somewhat smart people will laugh at these things but even on these boards everyone thinks something like "jinx thread" is a real thing.

Thanks for generalizing us and insinuating that we're all superstitious and stupid, to boot. Totally cool.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Nah, lots of Americans are superstitious idiots. He's not exactly wrong there.

But American superstition got nothing on Slavic ones. Don't sit at the corner, you'll never get married! Make sure you beat the women in the town with birch switches to make sure spring comes!