NHL not expected to hand out two major trophies this postseason

According to the NHL's Chief Content Officer Steve Mayer, the league is not going to be handing out the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl, or the Prince of Wales Trophy during the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs. This is because of the unusual playoff format and divisions for this season.

The Clarence S. Campbell Bowl is given to the winner of the Western Conference Final, while the Prince of Wales Trophy is given to the winner of the Eastern Conference Finals.

For the first two rounds of the playoffs, teams will play within their divisions with the 1st seed playing the 4th, and the 2nd seed playing the 3rd seed in round one. Following the second round, the winner from each division will be reseeded based on their regular season points total.

There is a very small chance that this season could end with a traditional Eastern Conference team playing against each other in the Stanley Cup Final, and that chance also extends to traditional Western Conference teams too. Given this format, it wouldn't make sense to hand out either the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl, or the Prince of Wales Trophy.

The NHL will not award the Prince of Wales Trophy or the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl this season, NHL Chief Content Officer Steve Mayer told ESPN.

Therefore neither team can touch the trophies and the Stanley Cup will be cut in half and awarded to both teams. pic.twitter.com/Jeel5hgno4— Complete Hockey News (@CompleteHkyNews) May 14, 2021