The Stanley Cup is a championship trophy awarded yearly to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff winner after the playoffs. The Stanley Cup Finals is the championship series to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, symbol of the professional club championship of ice hockey.

The Cup already existed in the 1890s but the teams were not established until 1913.

The Cup Finals are known to be “World Series” between the champion of the National Hockey Association (NHA) and the champion of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA).

After a few league mergers and folds, the Stanley Cup Finals is competed as the championship series of the National Hockey League (NHL). It is a best-of-seven series contested between the winners of the Eastern and Western Conferences.

Before the Stanley Cup was inaugurated as the “World Series” of ice hockey, it had been won and contested in 1893 when the Montreal Hockey Club were the first winner, winning the 1893 AHAC season.

ice hockey is played on ice hockey played on ice
The championship was rotated between a rink of the NHA and NHL and a rink of the PCHA and WCHL/WHL. The finals were rotated between two finalists’ home ice.

The series allowed tied wins until 1929. The series would later alternate using each league’s rules.

Trivia
The first live broadcast of the Stanley Cup Finals was in 1953 by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). It was hosted by Wes McKnight, play-by-play by Danny Gallivan and color commentary by Keith Dancy.