Vegas, Carolina give conference trophies cold shoulder, but someone has to lose the Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup Final matchup will be decided after the Carolina Hurricanes edged the Montreal Canadiens with a dominant Game 5 performance, and the team will now face the Vegas Golden Knights.
But we have a problem: Neither the Hurricanes nor the Golden Knights have touched their respective conference championship trophies.
Guys… neither of you can win the Cup.
This superstition will fail for someone.
The Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes have stayed away from conference championship trophies because of superstition, but that won’t work for either of them. (Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images and James Guillory-Imagn Images)
There is a long-standing tradition that you should never touch the conference championship trophy (the Prince of Wales Trophy for the Eastern Conference and the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl for the Western Conference) because they are not the ultimate prize. Stanley Cup.
Of course, there are plenty of examples of teams not touching the Cup and losing, or grabbing a big handful of conference trophies and winning. But it’s a bit odd for the Golden Knights and Hurricanes because they have identical records when it comes to touching or not touching the conference trophy.
Let’s start with Vegas. Captain Mark Stone avoided touching the Clarence Campbell Bowl, as he did in 2023 when Vegas beat the Florida Panthers for the Stanley Cup.
VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS STAR MITCH MARNER DOES THE FUNNIEST THING EVER WITH POST-SEASON EXPLOSION
But in 2018, when the Golden Knights reached the Cup Final in his first season, de facto captain Deryk Engelland not only touched it, he picked it up and slid it.
So for those who keep the score at home, Vegas is ahead 1-1 in the Cup Finals, loses when it touches the cup, and wins when it doesn’t.
This is also Carolina’s third trip to the Finals in franchise history, with the first coming in 2002.
DESPITE A POTENTIAL RATING NIGHTMARE FOR THE NHL, THE VEGAS-CAROLINA STANLEY CUP FINAL STILL HAS MANY INTRICTATIONS
They beat the Toronto Maple Leafs in six games and captain Ron Francis touched the Prince of Wales Cup.
The Carolina Hurricanes didn’t change fate by getting their hands on the Prince of Wales Cup. ((Photo: Josh Lavallee/NHLI via Getty Images))
They lost in five games to the Detroit Red Wings in the Finals, but that may have had less to do with trophy-touching voodoo and more to do with the fact that Detroit had one of the best rosters in NHL history.
Really. Go investigate. This is crazy. Yzerman, Hull, Lidstrom, Federov, Chelios, Datsyuk, Robitaille and more.
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. GET THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
But after winning Game 7 against the Buffalo Sabers in 2006, then-captain Rod Brind’Amour left the trophy untouched and the Canes went on to beat the Edmonton Oilers for the Stanley Cup.
Now, in 2026, they have stayed away from it once again, perhaps due to some input from their head coach.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD FOX NEWS APPLICATION
We’ll see how this plays out because a team needs to buck this trend of superstition.
The game is Tuesday night in Raleigh.
