The Florida Panthers are hoping history repeats itself.
They did not touch the Prince of Wales Trophy when they were awarded it Wednesday, after not touching it last season before going on to win the Stanley Cup.
NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly presented the trophy to captain Aleksander Barkov following a 5-3 win against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. Barkov did not touch the trophy before he and his teammates posed for photos with it.
After winning the trophy in 2023, the Panthers touched and skated around the trophy, with forward Matthew Tkachuk saying, "The last thing that we're going to do is be is superstitious about not touching it. Like, nobody said we were even going to make the playoffs. I think it's pretty cool to touch it, carry it around and take pictures with it. We earned that thing."
However, Florida would then lose in five games to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Cup Final. They took a different approach last season, which worked out well for them; they defeated the Edmonton Oilers in seven games for their first championship.
In 1996, the only other time the Panthers won the Prince of Wales Trophy, captain Brian Skrudland lifted the trophy; the Panthers were then swept by the Colorado Avalanche in the Cup Final.
The Tampa Bay Lightning, who won the trophy from 2020-22, touched it all three times but were defeated in the Cup Final by the Avalanche in six games in 2022. Prior to that, they won the Cup in 2020 against the Dallas Stars and 2021 against the Montreal Canadiens after touching it each time.
Five of the past nine teams to win the Cup have touched the Prince of Wales Trophy. Prior to 2020, Sidney Crosby touched it in 2016 and in 2017 before helping the Pittsburgh Penguins win the Cup each season, and Alex Ovechkin did the same in 2018 with the Washington Capitals, who won the Cup.
Before the 2024 Panthers, the Boston Bruins in 2011 were the most recent team to win the Cup after choosing not to touch the Prince of Wales Trophy.
Bruins captain Zdeno Chara did not touch the trophy in 2019, and Boston lost to the St. Louis Blues in seven games in the Cup Final. The New Jersey Devils (2012), Bruins (2013), New York Rangers (2014) and Lightning (2015) all lost in the Cup Final after refusing to touch the trophy.
Because of temporary divisional realignment due to COVID-19 in 2020-21, the third round of the playoffs was renamed the semifinals, instead of the conference finals. The Prince of Wales Trophy was awarded to the Lightning after they defeated the New York Islanders in the semifinals.
The Prince of Wales Trophy has been awarded to the Eastern Conference champion since the 1993-94 season.
Florida will play the Stars or Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final. Edmonton leads the best-of-7 Western Conference Final 3-1 with Game 5 at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).
