NHL Playoffs 2012: Will Either Conference Champion Touch Their Trophy?

On Sunday afternoon, the Los Angeles Kings will have an opportunity to do something they have only done one other time in franchise history: touch the Campbell Bowl.

Incidentally, that was precisely what then-captain Wayne Gretzky did in 1993, right after his hat trick piloted Los Angeles to a Game 7 thriller over Toronto. And before the Kings crumbled in five games and watched the Montreal Canadiens claim the Stanley Cup.

The notion of touching one’s NHL conference championship trophy complicating one’s odds of winning the more renowned trophy in question did not have quite the same traction as it does now. But a report on espn.com from last season noted that, since 2001, teams touching their conference trophy have gone 4-5 in the final round while those who refrained have gone 6-5.

Not much of a contrast there. If this were baseball or basketball, the touching teams would merely be a game behind their adversary with two games in hand.

In years where there is one toucher facing a non-toucher, dating back to 2003, the latter has a slim 3-2 advantage.

Besides the ever-burgeoning potentiality of the Kings putting in their second Stanley Cup Finals appearance, the side story with conference trophies has a thick layer of intrigue within the Eastern matchup.

On one end, the New Jersey Devils are quite distinct for having never shied away from laying hands on the Prince of Wales Trophy. Then-captain Scott Stevens did it in each of four opportunities in a span of nine years.

In three of those four subsequent championship rounds, those same hands exchanged pleasantries with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and then gripped the Cup. The only time the Devils lost in the final was the only time Stevens touched, but did not pick up, the conference hardware.

Current New Jersey captain Zach Parise never suited up with Stevens. The former broke into the league immediately after the 2004-05 lockout while the latter retired immediately beforehand. Nonetheless, even with new blood and a new building, it is hard to imagine an organization run by Lou Lamoriello deviating from internal tradition.

Of course, the Devils will need to win three of their next four games against the rival New York Rangers before this becomes an acceptable discussion topic. The Rangers lead the Eastern finals, two games to one, and are seeking their first conference crown since they penned their own trophy tale in 1994.

Stephane Matteau reportedly spotted the Prince of Wales Trophy and tapped it even before his historic goal clinched Game 7, along with the trophy, in double-overtime.

Regardless, this year’s championship ceremonies for both conferences will be first-time experiences for any of the four captains left on the bracket. If Shane Doan and the Coyotes somehow become the fourth NHL team to thoroughly surmount a 3-0 series deficit, it will be a first-timer for the franchise.

But assuming the Kings pull off the more likely scenario, whether it is Sunday or later this week, captain Dustin Brown may take note of 1993 and take the opposite route in hopes of an opposite result. That was what Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby did when, after not touching his conference trophy and losing the Cup in 2008, he went ahead and picked it up in 2009 and proceeded to win the more meaningful title.

As for the Hudson River Rivalry, history heavily favors the prospect of either team disregarding a jinx that has frankly lost nearly all credibility anyway.