Stanley Cup Finals

Stanley Cup Final
The Stanley Cup is awarded to the winner of the championship series.
First awarded:	1893
Most recent:	2016

The Stanley Cup Final in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Finals among various media,French: Finale de la Coupe Stanley) is the NHL's championship series to determine the winner of the Stanley Cup, North America's oldest professional sports trophy.

The Stanley Cup was first awarded in 1893, originally a "challenge trophy." The champions held onto the Cup until they either lost their league title to another club, or a champion from another league issued a formal challenge and defeated the reigning Cup champion in a final game to claim their win.

Starting in 1915, the Cup was officially held between the champion of the National Hockey Association (NHA) and the champion of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA). After a series of league mergers and folds, it became the championship trophy of the National Hockey League (NHL) in 1926. Today, the championship round of the NHL's playoffs is a best-of-seven series played between the champions of the Eastern and Western Conferences.

The Stanley Cup was first awarded to the Montreal Hockey Club in 1893 when the team won the 1893 AHAC season. The team then had to defend its champion-title both through league championships and challenge games organised by the Stanley Cup trustees. Until 1912, these challenges could take place before or during a league season. After 1912, the trustees ordered that challenges only take place after all league games were completed.

The last challenge, in 1914, was the inauguration of the first "World Series" of ice hockey, a series between the Stanley Cup and league champion Toronto Hockey Club of the National Hockey Association (NHA) and the , champions of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA). The series was pre-arranged between the two leagues prior to the season after post-season exhibitions held in the their previous seasons. The inaugural series was to be held in the city of the NHA champion, and alternate annually following the series.