Whatever the outcome of this year’s Stanley Cup Final rematch between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis won’t be wetting his whistle on whiskey courtesy Alberta Premier Danielle Smith again this summer.
On Tuesday, Smith told National Post she would not renew the friendly wager with her U.S. counterpart, who would have been required to send a bottle of Florida rum north had the Oilers completed their series comeback to defeat the Panthers last June.
“We are following the lead of Captain Connor and are going to do things a bit differently this year,” she wrote in a statement.
Smith is referring to Oilers’ captain Connor McDavid, who, after helping his team knock off the Dallas Stars 4-1 in the best-of-seven Western Conference final, hoisted the Clarence Campbell Bowl presented to him by deputy commissioner Bill Daly.
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NHL players, not unlike most professional athletes, can be the superstitious sort, and one of the most enduring superstitions is that you don’t touch the Campbell or the Prince of Wales Trophy, its Eastern Conference equivalent, should your team win and advance to compete for Lord Stanley’s trophy.
Fearing it will somehow bring bad luck, team captains won’t touch it, and the team will only gather around it for an official photo. The fear is that celebrating with the trophy will jinx your chances in the final.
It’s not clear how far it dates back for either trophy, but it’s only grown in prominence as the sport has grown in North America.
Speaking to Sportsnet’s Gene Principe on the ice as teammates celebrated around him, McDavid said he didn’t “know what was going to happen when we got up there” but decided to “give it a go this year.”
Congratulations to the @EdmontonOilers who qualify for the #StanleyCup final for the 9th time.
Last year Connor McDavid didn’t touch the Clarence Campbell Bowl, this year he did.#Oilers #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/4Ou78yGSTx— Vintage Oilers (@VintageOilers) May 30, 2025
In the post-game press conference, a No. 97 offered a similar and succinct reply.
“Pretty obvious, I think. Don’t touch it last year, we don’t win. Touch it this year, hopefully we win.”
The Panthers, meanwhile, also chose not to touch the Prince of Wales after finishing off the Carolina Hurricanes last week, marking the second straight year they’ve done so. When the Panthers swept the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2023 East final and touched the Prince of Wales, they went on to lose against the Las Vegas Knights in the final.
While it’s mostly hit and miss, plenty of teams who’ve touched their respective trophies have gone on to win the Cup, including some of the games’ greats,
according to the league.
After not doing so before his first Cup final in 2008, Sidney Crosby and his assistant captains did touch the Clarence Campbell in 2009 and went on to win. He would do so again in 2016 and 17 when the Pittsburgh Penguins went on to win back-to-back cups.
Alex Ovechkin also did it in 2018, and his Washington Capitals would win the organization’s first-ever title.
The all-star loaded Tampa Bay Lightning touched it ahead of three straight finals from 2020-21, winning the first two and dropping the third.
The NHL said the last time another team chose to touch the Prince of Wales trophy and went on to win was the 2011 Boston Bruins.
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