LOOK: Blackhawks pose for picture with Campbell Bowl, refuse to touch it
Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews once again ignores the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl. He has bigger trophies on his mind.
By
Adam Gretz
•
1 min read
In what is starting to become a bit of a routine for Jonathan Toews, he met NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly on Saturday night to accept the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl on behalf of his team for winning the Western Conference following their 5-3 Game 7 win over the Anaheim Ducks.
It is the third time since the 2009-10 season that Toews and the Blackhawks have had this experience, becoming the first team to reach the Stanley Cup Final three times in the salary cap era. This time, instead of standing next to the trophy by himself, Toews called all of his teammates over to pose with the trophy that not one of them was willing to touch.
It keeps nicely with the tradition of (most) NHL captains and teams not wanting to touch the conference championship trophy because they do not want to touch a trophy that is not the Stanley Cup.
When the Tampa Bay Lightning won Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final on Friday night captain Steven Stamkos kept a similar distance from the Prince of Wales Trophy.
On one hand, I get it. Players are superstitious and they want to win the Stanley Cup because that -- and not simply winning the conference title -- is the ultimate goal. But on the other hand, you just won a major award. You accomplished something that is really hard to do. It's OK to enjoy it a little bit. Just touch the stupid thing. Pick it up. Hold it. Celebrate.
Toews scored two first period goals on Saturday night to help give the Blackhawks an early lead that proved to be an insurmountable deficit for the Ducks to overcome.
