What is the name of the NHL's championship trophy?

The NHL's championship trophy is the Stanley Cup, awarded annually to the winner of the league's playoffs.

The trophy was commissioned in 1892 by Lord Stanley of Preston, Canada's governor general, as the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup. The first championship was awarded in 1893 to the Montreal Hockey Club, years before the NHL was founded in 1917.

For its early history, the Cup could be won through league championships and challenge series involving different hockey organizations. After the Western Hockey League folded in 1926, the NHL became the only league regularly competing for it. The NHL formally established the Stanley Cup as its championship trophy in 1947.

The Cup is unusual because the same trophy is passed from champion to champion rather than replaced each year. Winning players, coaches, and staff have their names engraved on its bands. The Hart Trophy is the NHL's MVP award, the Conn Smythe Trophy honors the playoff MVP, and the Prince of Wales Trophy goes to the Eastern Conference champion.