What is Prince of Wales Trophy?
{{Otheruses4|the trophy|other uses of Prince of Wales|Prince of Wales (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox sports award | name = Prince of Wales Trophy | image = Hhof prince of wales.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | sport = [[Ice hockey]] | competition = | givenfor = Eastern Conference playoff champions of the [[National Hockey League]] | sponsor = | first = [[1925–26 NHL season]] | number = | last = | firstwinner = [[Montreal Canadiens]] | mostwins = [[Montreal Canadiens]] (25) | mostrecent = [[Florida Panthers]] (3) | url = }} The '''Prince of Wales Trophy''',<ref>{{cite web |title=Prince of Wales Trophy |url=http://www.nhl.com/trophies/wales.html |author=NHL.com}}</ref> or simply the '''Wales Trophy''', is a [[National Hockey League]] (NHL) trophy awarded to the [[Eastern Conference (NHL)|Eastern Conference]] (formerly the [[Wales Conference]]) playoff champions. The trophy is awarded prior to the final series which are the championship games to decide the winner for the [[Stanley Cup]] against the [[Western Conference (NHL)|Western Conference's]] champions. The trophy was first established in the [[1923-24 NHL season]], for the champion of the NHL playoffs, but it has been the trophy for eight different accomplishments, which also include being the NHL regular season champions, American Division regular season champions, regular season champions, East Division regular season champions, Wales Conference regular season champions, Wales Conference playoffs champions, and Eastern Conference playoffs champions. The current holder of the Prince of Wales Trophy is the [[Florida Panthers]] after defeating the [[New York Rangers]] in the 2023 Eastern Conference finals. ==History== The Prince of Wales Trophy was donated by His Royal Highness, the [[Prince of Wales]] (later [[Edward VIII of the United Kingdom|King Edward VIII]] and the [[Duke of Windsor]]), in [[1923-24 NHL season|1924]]. It was first presented to the playoff champion of the NHL (repl