2022 Conference Finals Preview

The Final Four is all set. The Conference Finals are here. This round is very vital, it will determine which two teams will face each other for the Stanley Cup! We were treated to a very captivating second round that saw so many amazing moments, plays, and goals, but after the dust has settled, it has come down to the final four teams remaining. Since the 2013-14 season, the Conference Finals have been contested between each of the four winners of the division brackets, with the East series pitting the Atlantic vs the Metropolitan, while the West series pits the Central vs the Pacific. The series are as follows:

Eastern Conference Final

For the third straight season, and the sixth time in eight years, the Tampa Bay Lightning reached the Final Four. After winning a seven game thriller against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Round 1, the Atlantic Division Final featured the Battle of Florida, which saw the Lightning sweep and dismantle the Presidents' Trophy winning Florida Panthers. It was also a bit of fateful payback as well--Panthers' goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was on the 2019 Columbus Blue Jackets team that stymied the Bolts in Round 1. The Bolts only surrendered three goals in that series, which means, yes, playoff Vasilevskiy is back.

One week after the Lightning finished their series, they finally found out who they would face in the Eastern Conference Final, and it is none other than the New York Rangers. The Rangers survived back-to-back seven game series over the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Carolina Hurricanes to earn the right to represent the Metropolitan half of the East Final, and it was their power play that led the way for the Rangers, as they scored seven PPGs in the series against the Hurricanes. For the Rangers, this is their first Final Four appearance since 2015, which was also against the Lightning, who defeated the Rangers in seven games.

Western Conference Final

When Darren Helm's slapshot went in the net with under six seconds left in regulation in Game Six, I--being the diehard Avalanche fan that I am--had a wave of elated emotion overcome me. Darren Helm's shot ended the series. Darren Helm's shot killed any doubts about this team. Most importantly, Darren Helm's shot placed the Colorado Avalanche in the Final Four for the first time in 20 years. The Avs survived a six-game heated thriller over the St. Louis Blues, despite Nathan MacKinnon scoring all three of his Elite Eight goals in one game (Game Five), and despite Cale Makar only having three points in the entire series. It was an absolute team effort that led the Avs in this series, and as a result, Nathan MacKinnon (one of the league's top stars) is a Conference Finalist for the first time in his career.

You know who else is a first time Conference Finalist? Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. After winning a seven-game thriller over the Los Angeles Kings, the Edmonton Oilers clobbered the Calgary Flames in a much shorter than expected Battle of Alberta series, and as a result, the Oilers are in the Final Four for the first time since their run to the Cup Final in 2006. As monstrous as McDavid and Draisaitl are, there is a third factor leading the way for the Oilers: Evander Kane. The controversial Kane enters the Conference Finals with twelve goals in the 2022 playoffs. Wow! This is going to be an amazing series, without question!

Since 1981, the winners of each Conference Finals have been awarded the Prince of Wales Trophy and the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl. The Prince of Wales Trophy was originally awarded to the overall NHL champion in 1925 and 1926, before serving as the prize for the winner of the American Division from 1927 until 1938. After that, the Wales Trophy was awarded to the team with the best record in the NHL, but since the 1967 expansion, the trophy was awarded to the team with the top record in the NHL's East Division until 1974, when it was the prize for the team who finished first overall in the Wales Conference. The Clarence S. Campbell Bowl was first awarded in the 1967-68 season, serving as the prize for the team who finished first in the NHL's West Division until 1974, when it was given to the top team in the Campbell Conference.

The Wales Trophy and the Campbell Bowl have been solely playoff awards since 1981, with the Wales Trophy going to the Wales/Eastern Conference champion, while the Campbell Bowl went to the Campbell/Western Conference champion. In the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs, there were no conferences, as the COVID-19 pandemic led to teams being placed in localized divisions, and the first two rounds of the playoffs were divisional. The four remaining teams were re-ranked, and in the Stanley Cup Semifinals, one series pitted the Vegas Golden Knights against the Montréal Canadiens, while the other featured the Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Islanders. The Lightning won the Wales Trophy when they defeated the Isles, while the Canadiens (an East team) won the Campbell Bowl when they defeated the Knights.

Of course, the known superstition surrounds touching the conference trophies, or rather, not touching them. For years, it's been said that if you actually touch the conference trophies, then you are not focused on the big prize: the Stanley Cup. All the while, not touching the trophies means that your eye is on the Cup. Like most superstitions, there's nothing really concrete. In 2008, the Penguins did not touch the Wales Trophy; they lost the Cup Final. The following year, they decided to touch it; they won the Cup. In 2018, Alex Ovechkin actually picked up the Wales Trophy, as he had never won one. He would pick up the Stanley Cup just over two weeks later.

We will eventually see which teams will test that superstition (or not) in this year's Conference Finals. Regarding TV rights, in the first year of this current arrangement, TNT will air the entire Western Conference Final, while ESPN will air the entire Eastern Conference Final--the two networks will swap Conference Finals every year. Sportsnet will have both Conference Finals up in Canada. The race to the Stanley Cup has reached the home stretch, and I have a feeling that this year's Final Four will be immensely unforgettable!