This is a list of Stanley Cup champions, including finalists and challengers. The Stanley Cup, donated by former Governor General of Canada Lord Stanley of Preston in 1892, is the oldest professional sports trophy in North America. Originally inscribed the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, the trophy started out as an award for Canada's top-ranking amateur ice hockey club. Today, it is awarded to the top team in the National Hockey League, a professional ice hockey league.

Challenge era

Notes
A. Although the Montreal Victorias won the AHAC title in 1895, the Stanley Cup trustees had already accepted a challenge from the 1894 Cup champion Montreal HC and Queen's University. As a compromise, the trustees decided that if the Montreal HC won the challenge match, the Victorias would become the Stanley Cup champions. The Montreals eventually won the game, 5–1, and their crosstown rivals were awarded the Cup.

B. Intended to be a best-of-three series, Ottawa Capitals withdrew their challenge after the first game.

C. The January 31 (a Saturday) game was tied 2–2 at midnight and the Mayor of Westmount refused to allow play to continue on the Sunday. The game was played on February 2 (a Monday) and the January 31 game was considered to be void.

D. For most of 1904, the Ottawa Senators were not affiliated with any league.

E. The Montreal Wanderers were disqualified as the result of a dispute. After game one ended tied at the end of regulation, 5–5, the Wanderers refused to play overtime with the current referee, and then subsequently refused to play the next game of the series in Ottawa.

F. Victoria did not formally challenge for the Stanley Cup with the Stanley Cup trustees. Toronto accepted the challenge directly.

Source

NHA/NHL vs. PCHA/WCHL/WHL  champions

NHL champion
The Conn Smythe Trophy is awarded to the player who is judged to be the most valuable player to his team during the playoffs. It was first awarded during the 1964–65 playoffs.

Numbers in parentheses in the table indicate the number of times that team has appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals, as well as each respective team's Stanley Cup Finals record to date.

Playoff formats
1926–27 to 1927–28: After NHL became the only league to compete for the Cup, the playoff champion of the NHL Canadian Division faced the playoff champion of the NHL American Division in the Stanley Cup Finals.
1928–29 to 1937–38: The league changed the playoff format: In the Stanley Cup Quarterfinals, both second place teams faced each other, as did the two third place teams. Both first place teams received a bye and automatically advanced to the semifinals, but had to face each other in that playoff round. As a result, two teams from the same division occasionally played each other in the Stanley Cup Finals.
1938–39 to 1966–67: Before the start of the 1938–39 season, the league contracted to seven teams, causing the league to implement a one division format. The NHL contracted even further to only six clubs by the 1942–43 season, beginning a period that became known as the Original Six Era.
1967–68 to 1969–70: As a result of the 1967 NHL Expansion, the league realigned its teams into the East Division and the West Division, with the playoffs arranged so that teams from each division would meet in the Stanley Cup Finals.
1970–71 to 1973–74: The league changed the playoff format again so that an Eastern Division team would always face a Western Division team in the Stanley Cup Semifinals. Therefore, two teams from the same division could face each other in the Stanley Cup Finals.
1974–75 to 1980–81: The league expanded to 18 teams and realigned into two conferences: the Prince of Wales Conference and the Clarence Campbell Conference. Twelve teams qualified for the postseason, but were seeded 1–12 regardless of conference (the four division winners received first round byes). This type of seeding system would continue  after the league expanded the playoffs to 16 teams before the 1979–80 season. 
1981–82 to 1992–93: The postseason format was altered so that once again the playoff champion of the Prince of Wales Conference faced the playoff champion of the Clarence Campbell Conference in the Stanley Cup Finals.
1993–94 to Present: The league's two conferences were renamed the Eastern and Western Conferences, respectively.

References
General
 
 
 
 
 

 

Specific

Further reading

Other websites
 

Ice hockey related lists