The
Western Conference () is one of two conferences in the
National Hockey League (NHL) used to divide teams. Its counterpart is the
Eastern Conference.
Previously known as the
Clarence Campbell Conference (or
Campbell Conference), it was created in
1974 when the NHL realigned its teams into two conferences and four divisions. Because the new conferences and divisions had little to do with North American geography, geographical references were removed. The conferences and divisions were re-aligned in
1981 to better reflect the geographical locations of the teams, but the existing names were retained with the Campbell Conference becoming the conference for the NHL's westernmost teams. The names of conferences and divisions were changed in
1993 to reflect 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. However, the trophy awarded to the conference champion, the
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl, retains some connection to the heritage of the league. In 2005, following the lockout, Gary Bettman changed the Western Conference logo (along with the Eastern Conference and NHL logos) to its current form.
Divisions
Before the 1993 realignment, the Campbell Conference consisted of the
Norris Division and the
Smythe Division. Currently, the...
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