If the Montreal Canadiens beat the Vegas Golden Knights in the third round, the Eastern Conference will get their hands on the Clarence-S.-Campbell Cup for the first time in Vancouver history. National Hockey League (NHL).
Due to the special distribution of teams into four divisions, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Habs will have the opportunity to compete for this honor, traditionally awarded to the best team…in the West.
Another irony of fate, CH did not win this trophy in honor of Clarence Campbell, the former president of the NHL. The latter was not very well liked—not to mention hated—by Quebecers, having bestowed a famous comment on Maurice Richard. Followed by the famous riot forum in 1955.
As if that wasn’t enough yet, Team Bleu-Blanc-Rouge could get their hands on Clarence-S.-Campbell in potential Game 6, on June 24, during the Fête nationale du Québec.
The Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islands won the award earlier in the 1970s and 1980s, when the NHL was called otherwise.
In its history, Canadians have won 24 Stanley Cups and 25 Prince of Wales Cups, awarded to the champion team from the East. The New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning will compete for the latter in another semifinal series.
In the past five years, only one team (the St. Louis Blues, in 2019) has won the Clarence-S-Campbell Cup before going on to lift the Stanley Cup. It’s definitely a risk worth taking for the Hab.
