NHL Conference Finals

The National Hockey League (NHL) Conference Finals are the Eastern Conference and Western Conference Championship series of the NHL. The Conference Finals are best-of-seven series. The two series are played in late May each year after the first and second rounds of the playoffs and before the Finals. The final two teams in the Eastern conference and Western Conference face off. The series are the conference equivalents of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Before the 1967-68 season, the NHL was only made up of a single division. From the 1967-68 season through the 1973-74 season, the NHL was made up of two divisions (as opposed to conferences), an East Division and a West Division.
Following the 1973-74 season, the NHL again realigned. The East and West Divisions were renamed the Prince of Wales and Clarence Campbell Conferences, respectively. This was because at the time, since the new conferences and divisions had little to do with North American geography, geographical references were removed. 
Beginning in the 1981-82 season, the Conferences & the playoffs were realigned. 
Beginning in the 1993-94 season, the names of conferences and divisions were changed to reflect the their geographic locations. Then-new NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman made the change to help non-hockey fans better understand the game, as the National Basketball Association, National Football League, and Major League Baseball all use geographic-based names for their conferences and divisions. Therefore, the Campbell Conference became the Western Conference and the Wales Conference became the Eastern Conference.
The respective winners of the Eastern and Western Conference Finals receive the Prince of Wales Trophy and Clarence S. Campbell Bowl.
Four teams, the Phoenix Coyotes, the Nashville Predators, the Atlanta Thrashers and the Columbus Blue Jackets are the only teams to never appear in a Conference Final. All four of these teams have appeared in the Conference Quarter-finals.
==Prince of Wales Conference/Eastern Conference==
===Prince of Wales Conference (1982-1993)===
Season 	Champion 	Runner-Up 	Games	Eventual Cup Winner
1981-82	New York Islanders 	Quebec Nordiques 	4 	•
1982-83	New York Islanders 	Boston Bruins 	6 	•
1983-84	New York Islanders 	Montreal Canadiens 	6 	
1984-85	Philadelphia Flyers	Quebec Nordiques 	6 	
1985-86	Montreal Canadiens 	New York Rangers 	5 	•
1986-87	Philadelphia Flyers	Montreal Canadiens 	6 	
1987-88	Boston Bruins 	New Jersey Devils 	7 	
1988-89	Montreal Canadiens 	Philadelphia Flyers	6 	
1989-90	Boston Bruins 	Washington Capitals	4 	
1990-91	Pittsburgh Penguins	Boston Bruins 	6 	•
1991-92	Pittsburgh Penguins	Boston Bruins 	4 	•
1992-93	Montreal Canadiens 	New York Islanders 	5 	•
===Eastern Conference (1994-present)===
Season 	East Champion 	East Runner-Up 	Games 	Eventual Cup Winner
1993-94 	New York Rangers 	New Jersey Devils 	7 	•
1994-95 	New Jersey Devils 	Philadelphia Flyers 	6 	•
1995-96 	Florida Panthers 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	7 	
1996-97 	Philadelphia Flyers 	New York Rangers 	5 	
1997-98 	Washington Capitals 	Buffalo Sabres 	6 	
1998-99 	Buffalo Sabres 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	5 	
1999-2000	New Jersey Devils 	Philadelphia Flyers 	7 	•
2000-01 	New Jersey Devils 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	5 	
2001-02 	Carolina Hurricanes 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	6 	
2002-03 	New Jersey Devils 	Ottawa Sentators 	7 	•
2003-04 	Tampa Bay Lightning 	Philadelphia Flyers 	7 	•
2004-05 	No Conference Finals played due to a lockout.	No Conference Finals played due to a lockout.	No Conference Finals played due to a lockout.	No Conference Finals played due to a lockout.
2005-06 	Carolina Hurricanes 	Buffalo Sabres 	7 	•
2006-07 	Ottawa Sentators 	Buffalo Sabres 	5 	
2007-08 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	Philadelphia Flyers 	5 	
2008-09 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	Carolina Hurricanes 	4 	•
2009-10 	Philadelphia Flyers 	Montreal Canadiens 	5 	
2010-11 	Boston Bruins 	Tampa Bay Lightning 	7 	•
2011-12 	New Jersey Devils 	New York Rangers 	6 	
2012-13 	Boston Bruins 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	4 	
2013-14 	New York Rangers 	Montreal Canadiens 	6 	
2014-15 	Tampa Bay Lightning 	New York Rangers 	7 	
==Clarence Campbell Conference/Western Conference==
===Clarence Campbell Conference (1982-1993)===
Season 	West Champion 	West Runner-Up 	Games	Eventual Cup Winner
1981-82	Vancouver Canucks 	Chicago Black Hawks 	5 	
1982-83	Edmonton Oilers 	Chicago Black Hawks 	4 	
1983-84	Edmonton Oilers 	Minnesota North Stars	4 	•
1984-85	Edmonton Oilers 	Chicago Black Hawks 	6 	•
1985-86	Calgary Flames 	St. Louis Blues 	7 	
1986-87	Edmonton Oilers 	Detroit Red Wings 	5 	•
1987-88	Edmonton Oilers 	Detroit Red Wings 	5 	•
1988-89	Calgary Flames 	Chicago Blackhawks 	5 	•
1989-90	Edmonton Oilers 	Chicago Blackhawks 	6 	•
1990-91	Minnesota North Stars	Edmonton Oilers 	5 	
1991-92	Chicago Blackhawks 	Edmonton Oilers 	4 	
1992-93	Los Angeles Kings 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	7 	
===Western Conference (1994-present)===
Season 	West Champion 	West Runner-Up 	Games 	Eventual Cup Winner
1993-94 	Vancouver Canucks 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	5 	
1994-95 	Detroit Red Wings 	Chicago Blackhawks 	5 	
1995-96 	Colorado Avalanche 	Detroit Red Wings 	6 	•
1996-97 	Detroit Red Wings 	Colorado Avalanche 	6 	•
1997-98 	Detroit Red Wings 	Dallas Stars 	6 	•
1998-99 	Dallas Stars 	Colorado Avalanche 	7 	•
1999-2000	Dallas Stars 	Colorado Avalanche 	7 	
2000-01 	Colorado Avalanche 	St. Louis Blues 	5 	•
2001-02 	Detroit Red Wings 	Colorado Avalanche 	7 	•
2002-03 	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 	Minnesota Wild 	4 	
2003-04 	Calgary Flames 	San Jose Sharks 	6 	
2004-05 	No Conference Finals played due to a lockout.	No Conference Finals played due to a lockout.	No Conference Finals played due to a lockout.	No Conference Finals played due to a lockout.
2005-06 	Edmonton Oilers 	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 	5 	
2006-07 	Anaheim Ducks 	Detroit Red Wings 	6 	•
2007-08 	Detroit Red Wings 	Dallas Stars 	6 	•
2008-09 	Detroit Red Wings 	Chicago Blackhawks 	5 	
==Team totals==
Legend: CF = Conference Finals; SCF = Stanley Cup Finals
Team 	CF Appearances	CF Wins	% 	Cup Wins	% 	Consecutive CF	Consecutive SCF
Philadelphia Flyers 	8 	2 	25% 	0 	0%	- 	-
Boston Bruins 	5 	2 	40% 	0 	0%	- 	-
Chicago Blackhawks 	8 	1 	12.5%	0 	0%	2 	-
Montreal Canadiens 	5 	3 	 	 	 	2 	
New York Islanders 	4 	3 	75% 	 	 	3 	
Detroit Red Wings 	10 	4 	40% 	 	 	2 (3) 	
Edmonton Oilers 	9 	7 	 	 	 	3 	
New York Rangers 	3 	1 	33.3%	 	 	 	-
Pittsburgh Penguins 	6 	4 	66.6%	 	 	2 (2) 	
St. Louis Blues 	2 	0 	0.00%	 	 	 	
Colorado Avalanche 	6 	2 	33.3%	 	 	2 	-
New Jersey Devils 	6 	4 	66.6%	 	 	2 (2) 	
Minnesota North Stars	2 	1 	50% 	 	 	- 	-
Buffalo Sabres 	4 	1 	25% 	 	 	2 	-
Toronto Maple Leafs 	4 	0 	0.00%	 	 	2 	-
Calgary Flames 	2 	2 	100% 	 	 	- 	-
Dallas Stars 	4 	2 	50% 	 	 	3 	
Anaheim Ducks 	3 	2 	66.6%	 	 	2 	-
Carolina Hurricanes 	3 	2 	66.6%	1 	 	- 	-
Washington Capitals 	2 	1 	50% 	 	 	- 	-
Los Angeles Kings 	1 	0 	0.00%	 	 	- 	-
Ottawa Senators 	2 	1 	50% 	 	 	- 	-
Quebec Nordiques 	2 	0 	0.00%	 	 	- 	-
Vancouver Canucks 	2 	2 	100% 	 	 	- 	-
Florida Panthers 	1 	1 	100% 	 	 	- 	-
San Jose Sharks 	1 	0 	0.00%	 	 	- 	-
Tampa Bay Lightning 	1 	1 	100% 	 	 	- 	-
Minnesota Wild 	1 	0 	0.00%	 	 	- 	-
==References==
==External links==
*Playoff Index - Hockey-Reference.com
Category:National Hockey League
Category:Stanley Cup