Talk:Stanley Cup Final

Stanley Cup Final, NOT Stanley Cup Finals

2011

It is the Stanley Cup Final, not the Stanley Cup Finals. The article needs to be corrected to reflect this. Check NHL.com if you need confirmation. http://www.nhl.com/cup/round4/index.html?intcmpid=nhl-pc-mast -- Aaron J. Hill — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.20.244.82 (talk) 23:12, 15 June 2011 (UTC)

Per our policy on article titles, Wikipedia uses the name that is most frequently used to refer to the subject in English-language reliable sources, NOT the NHL's relatively recent (a few years' old) official preference (see also Wikipedia's guidelines on formatting trademarks and essay on using official names). Current consensus is that most sources still use the "S" than not using it. Zzyzx11 (talk) 05:43, 23 June 2011 (UTC)

2014

I think it's finally time to switch over. Many sources are correctly calling it the Final at this point, and they did to differentiate themselves from the NBA. Keeping it the same based on the past is rather silly, as is the policy is sticking with what people wrongly call it. Arusnak (talk) 20:11, 31 May 2014 (UTC)

It's always been the Finals and grammatically that's correct. Jmj713 (talk) 21:49, 31 May 2014 (UTC)

-- Gramatically finals makes little sense. It isn't multiple finals taking place, it's 1 event. Game 1 and Game 2 aren't separate Finals. Arusnak (talk) 02:23, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

It is a series of several events or games, not one single, knockout match. That may seem incorrect but is acceptable now. I'm sure there are several articles out there trying to explain or debate this ongoing language change. Zzyzx11 (talk) 04:36, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

I do not see "many" sources that have switched over. @Arusnak:, you only cited a source from TSN, which of course they are going to use the official NHL spelling since they still have regional TV rights to a few NHL teams. As for third-party sources that have no direct invested interest in the league, I still see a significant use of the "s". -- not enough to warrant a change. Zzyzx11 (talk) 01:28, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

It's just so silly to let the media decide what the title should be, rather than go off it's been properly called for several years now. It'd be like titling the World Series "The Fall Classic" because a bunch of sources like to call it that. FWIW, here's a few more I've come across, and these are places a bit more in the know for hockey than Forbes or Huff Post...

If you Google 'NHL news', 5 sites (TSN, CBS, FOX, BR, The Hockey News) are using Final, while only 2 are using Finals exclusively (ESPN & Yahoo). Sporting News and USA Today are using both. Arusnak (talk) 02:22, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

RE: "It's just so silly to let the media decide what the title should be". That is how Wikipedia's policies on article titles work: the common name used by reliable sources, not the official name. If the World Series was commonly called the "The Fall Classic", then that would be the title of the article. But it is not because MLB did not do what the NHL did in allowing the media to use a term for several decades, and then turn around and officially change it to something else. Or the NHL scheduling its season at the same time as the NBA and that league's use of "NBA Finals" with an "S". Or dictionaries starting to official list the full definition of the noun "final" as "usually used in plural".

Also, look at these inconsistencies: The Hockey News is not using the singular exclusively, see the third paragraph of this where they use "Stanley Cup finals" with a "S". Neither is Fox Sports: Although this article uses the singular in the headline, the plural "Stanley Cup finalS" still appears in the second paragraph of the body of the article. We also have the same inconsistent spelling problem with this CBS Sports.com article where the phrase "Cup finals opener" with a "S" seems to suddenly appear in one of the last paragraphs. And this BR article uses the S in the headline but not in the body. This inconsistency from "places a bit more in the know for hockey" does not show confidence that they have completely made the transition yet. Zzyzx11 (talk) 02:55, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

"finals": the deciding part or parts of a sports or other competition. Jmj713 (talk) 09:04, 1 June 2014 (UTC)

2015

I also think it's time to switch. There are enough media sources using "Final" besides the NHL using it officially. And plus, to the last person to comment that finals was the deciding part of a sports competition didn't know: Merriam-Webster's definition of "final": "the last competition (such as a game or race) or set of competitions in a series". The reason why it says "usually used in the plural" in regards to games makes sense for individual sports, but gramatically, "Finals" refers to more than one final. More than one final isn't Game 1 and Game 7 - more than one final is 2012 and 2013's final, for instance. It also says the definition of "finals" in the plural is for final exams since there are multiple exams. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/final

I go into further detail here. NWRGeek (talk) 17:55, 30 May 2015 (UTC)

I agree that it should be "Final" rather than "Finals". Even the NHL website refers to it as the Cup Final (not Finals). GLG GLG (talk) 23:22, 2 June 2015 (UTC)

Yes, the NHL has been using "Final" without the S on its web site for the past few years, but the official name is not the reason why there was a move war/page naming dispute back in 2008. It regarded WP:COMMONAME: whether most reliable sources were copying the NHL's official name and web site, and using "Final" instead of "Finals". Back then most reliable sources were still using the S, similar to the spelling of NBA Finals. The question now is whether there is majority of reliable sources now that no longer use the S. The official name used by the NHL and its web site are irrelevant. Zzyzx11 (talk) 06:35, 3 June 2015 (UTC)

2020 - It's been 10 years and you guys are still on your high horse on this.

"also known as the Stanley Cup Final among various media."

NO MEDIA OUTLETS are using Finals in this day and age.

You can clearly see here Finals is more popular. Jmj713 (talk) 15:03, 20 September 2020 (UTC)

What does search trends have to do with media usage? That's some heavy goal post moving.

You're more than welcome to start another RFC, but it likely won't change anything as there hasn't been any real change in the last four years. Also the articles in question are subject to Canadian English standards and that doesn't help your position. Deadman137 (talk) 03:16, 22 September 2020 (UTC)

References

2024 can we please change to "Final"

No one uses "Finals" and the series is officially called the "Stanley Cup Final", this is not the NBA Finals — Preceding unsigned comment added by PrisonedMuffin (talk • contribs) 05:52, 22 June 2024 (UTC)

2016: RFC on Stanley Cup Finals vs. Final

I have opened an RFC on the long standing Stanley Cup Finals vs. Final issue at Talk:2016 Stanley Cup Finals#RFC: Stanley Cup Finals vs. Final. I thought we should discuss this early before this year's series starts next month. There has been a problem during the past few years when the issue was not raised by someone until the series was already underway, and thus too late to do much. Thanks. Zzyzx11 (talk) 20:11, 1 May 2016 (UTC)

The RFC ended with no consensus to rename the articles at this time. Zzyzx11 (talk) 10:15, 13 June 2016 (UTC)

Stanley Cup Finals vs. Stanley Cup Final

I've started a discussion about the "s" here Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Ice Hockey/Archive78#Stanley Cup Finals vs Stanley Cup Final. Chime in if you have a thought about it. Masterhatch (talk) 16:51, 2 September 2021 (UTC)

This article mentioned in media

Since Template:Press is not really appropriate for this: This article specifically was mentioned, with visuals, on The Jim Rome Show broadcast of May 30, 2025, at roughly 31 minutes into the recording or 21 minutes into the broadcast. The topic was the same as most of the comments on this talk page, the singular/plural contention. Mapsax (talk) 00:38, 1 June 2025 (UTC)

We can finally tell Jim Rome that it's been fixed. Assadzadeh (talk) 06:56, 12 July 2025 (UTC)

It’s time to change the title page to “Stanley Cup Final”

No one uses “Finals”. Not the NHL itself. Nor the media. I do not hear it called the “Finals”. It’s not even officially called the “Stanley Cup Finals”. It’s called the “Stanley Cup Final”. Like the World Cup final, or Champions League final 2601:245:4600:6E10:7027:773C:2E41:DDE3 (talk) 05:05, 7 June 2025 (UTC)

Nothing has changed since the 2016 discussion. These articles are written in Canadian English and Finals is the correct usage in Canadian English. In American English it is Final but this will not change because of WP:ENGVAR. Legally the Stanley Cup belongs to the people of Canada (so Canadian English will always be used), the only reason that American based teams are allowed to compete for the Cup is because the trustees allow it to happen. Deadman137 (talk) 05:19, 7 June 2025 (UTC)

I get that the "Stanley Cup" itself would be subject to Canadian English, but isn't the branding of the playoff series itself, the "Stanley Cup Final", an entity of the NHL, an American-based organization? Red0ctober22 (talk) 20:03, 7 June 2025 (UTC)

Even with the idea of "Stanley Cup Final" not being correct per the rules of Canadian English, shouldn't the official branding that the creator of the Stanley Cup Final (NHL) choose trump any language standard? For example, Dunkin' Donuts spells "doughnuts" wrong, but we aren't going to make the page title "Dunkin' Doughnuts"?

There's also the argument that Canadian media still uses "Finals", but just by doing a quick check of major Canadian sports media sources like CBC, TSN, and SN, this isn't the case, at least on their websites. Red0ctober22 (talk) 23:50, 7 June 2025 (UTC)

+1 to Deadman. The Kip ^(contribs) 20:07, 7 June 2025 (UTC)

Even the NHL logo for the Stanley Cup championship on some of the previous seasons' articles show "FINAL" and not "FINALS. For example, here's the one from 2025 Stanley Cup Finals.

File:2025 Stanley Cup Final.png

I reviewed previous years' articles and here is a summary of the various logos used over the years:

2022–2025 – References "FINAL"

2009–2021 – References "FINAL"

2008 – References "FINAL"

2006–2007 – References "FINAL"

2000–2004 – No reference to "FINAL" or "FINALS"

1997–1999 – No reference to "FINAL" or "FINALS"

1989–1992 & 1994–1996 – References "CHAMPIONSHIP"

1993 – Only difference between this year and the adjoining years is that the logo includes "CENTENNIAL"

So, if the NHL has never used "FINALS" on any of their logos, then why are we adamant on using it in the articles? Assadzadeh (talk) 15:28, 15 June 2025 (UTC)

I believe the NHL was always ambiguous as to "Finals" or "Final", until, as you stated, 2006 post-lockout, when they officially started using the branding with the logo saying "Final". I really don't see why at bare minimum the "Stanley Cup Finals" page can't be changed, along with all cup final pages from 2006 to 2025. Again, whether or not its grammatically correct, the reality is that the NHL officially uses the word "Final" in all branding, and the media excuse doesn't really hold up anymore, as almost all Canadian and American media outlets use "Final" now.

As we soon approach 20 years since the NHL officially adopted the branding "Stanley Cup Final", and more and more media outlets keep using the correct usage, these debates are simply going to keep happening and more people are going to get confused and angered by seeing "Finals" instead of "Final" (it's already started to happen with the whole Jim Rome incident above this section). Red0ctober22 (talk) 04:31, 16 June 2025 (UTC)

@Deadman137 Can you provide proof that "Finals" is the correct usage in Canadian English? Assadzadeh (talk) 05:44, 16 June 2025 (UTC)

The argument as I recall always was "finals" should be plural because it is a group of games, whereas, say the World Cup Final in soccer, is just one game. However, as I stated above using the "Dunkin' Donuts" example, the official branding should trump any grammatical standards, and the official NHL branding, along with the widespread media usage, is "Final". Red0ctober22 (talk) 19:26, 16 June 2025 (UTC)

@Red0ctober22 We're in agreement, I'm just trying to understand @Deadman137's comment that it's "Finals" in Canadian English, but "Final" in American English. I was just asking if he could provide proof of that. Assadzadeh (talk) 00:39, 17 June 2025 (UTC)

The majority of media sources are now using "Final". Here are the only examples that a quick Google search showed are still using "Finals":

1. SI – If Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift are attending, then "Finals" must be correct.

2. Edmonton Journal – they should know better.

3. Cable TV

4. Hulu

5. A knowledgable fan. Assadzadeh (talk) 19:41, 17 June 2025 (UTC)

I agree. How is the 's' Canadian English? I know we add an S to directional words such as 'forwards', 'backwards', 'towards', but Finals? Not so sure about that (or should i say "aboot" that)? Masterhatch (talk) 19:45, 17 June 2025 (UTC)

It's a finals because that's proper English in general, and plus it's also a series of games: 1: "a deciding match, game, heat, or trial —usually used in plural; 2: "plural noun, the deciding part or parts of a sports or other competition". As a compromise I can potentially see changing to "Stanley Cup finals" (lowercase finals). Jmj713 (talk) 21:39, 17 June 2025 (UTC)

I don't think changing to lowercase solves the problem. As a compromise, how about rearranging the opening sentence in this article to "The Stanley Cup Final in ice hockey (also known as the Stanley Cup Finals among various media..." and also updating all the yearly articles from 2006–present and leaving all the earlier ones as they are? Assadzadeh (talk) 22:49, 17 June 2025 (UTC)

It may be grammatically correct, but again, doesn't the official branding the NHL chooses, along with the common usage by media, which is both "Final", override any of that? Red0ctober22 (talk) 00:45, 18 June 2025 (UTC)

I agree, but because some media sources still (in my opinion, incorrectly) refer to it as "Finals", that's why I'm suggesting that "Final" be listed as primary and "Finals" as secondary. Assadzadeh (talk) 01:30, 18 June 2025 (UTC)

Actually no, because we don't tend to follow corporate branding or primary-source stylization. A good example is the recent movie Tár which in a lot of media and in promotional material by the studio/distributor was stylized in all caps, but because it's the character's name, not an acronym, it's rendered in title case. I feel like this is a similar situation, where it really shouldn't matter what the NHL's thoughts are. Jmj713 (talk) 03:15, 18 June 2025 (UTC)

But what about the case of "Dunkin' Donuts"? If we don't follow primary-source stylization, shouldn't that page be titled "Dunking Doughnuts" instead? Red0ctober22 (talk) 17:20, 19 June 2025 (UTC)

Maybe we need to get more eyes on this. Is it time for an RFC? Masterhatch (talk) 19:00, 19 June 2025 (UTC)

The last one was nine years ago. And no consensus. I think nine years is enough time to see where we sit now. Masterhatch (talk) 19:03, 19 June 2025 (UTC)

I would be in favor of an RfC. Assadzadeh (talk) 19:48, 19 June 2025 (UTC)

I as well. Red0ctober22 (talk) 03:46, 20 June 2025 (UTC)

Were you going to start the RFC or were you hoping that someone else would do so? Assadzadeh (talk) 06:11, 26 June 2025 (UTC)

I was throwing it out there to see if there was interest. I'm going to be busy over the next few days (going camping). Once back from my trip, I can start one. But if someone wants to start one earlier, be my guest. Masterhatch (talk) 08:10, 26 June 2025 (UTC)

Just please stop "correcting" things that don't need it. Sentences like "The Stanley Cup Final, also known as the Stanley Cup Final" don't make sense, and a lot of the categories are plural, referring to more than one final. Likewise, "fixing" file names without actually changing them doesn't work. Sumanuil. _{(talk to me)} 03:19, 13 July 2025 (UTC)

RfC/RM on "Final" vs "Finals"

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: Moved. Consensus in this RM (originally an RfC) was to use Stanley Cup Final rather than Stanley Cup Finals. This was based on evidence of common usage in agreement with official naming, notwithstanding that a series consists of multiple games. (closed by non-admin page mover) Adumbrativus (talk) 02:29, 12 July 2025 (UTC)

---

• Stanley Cup Finals → Stanley Cup Final
• 1914 Stanley Cup Finals → 1914 Stanley Cup Final1914 Stanley Cup Final
• 1915 Stanley Cup Finals → 1915 Stanley Cup Final
• 1916 Stanley Cup Finals → 1916 Stanley Cup Final
• 1917 Stanley Cup Finals → 1917 Stanley Cup Final
• 1918 Stanley Cup Finals → 1918 Stanley Cup Final
• 1919 Stanley Cup Finals → 1919 Stanley Cup Final
• 1920 Stanley Cup Finals → 1920 Stanley Cup Final
• 1921 Stanley Cup Finals → 1921 Stanley Cup Final
• 1922 Stanley Cup Finals → 1922 Stanley Cup Final
• 1923 Stanley Cup Finals → 1923 Stanley Cup Final
• 1924 Stanley Cup Finals → 1924 Stanley Cup Final
• 1925 Stanley Cup Finals → 1925 Stanley Cup Final
• 1926 Stanley Cup Finals → 1926 Stanley Cup Final
• 1927 Stanley Cup Finals → 1927 Stanley Cup Final
• 1928 Stanley Cup Finals → 1928 Stanley Cup Final
• 1929 Stanley Cup Finals → 1929 Stanley Cup Final
• 1930 Stanley Cup Finals → 1930 Stanley Cup Final
• 1931 Stanley Cup Finals → 1931 Stanley Cup Final
• 1932 Stanley Cup Finals → 1932 Stanley Cup Final
• 1933 Stanley Cup Finals → 1933 Stanley Cup Final
• 1934 Stanley Cup Finals → 1934 Stanley Cup Final
• 1935 Stanley Cup Finals → 1935 Stanley Cup Final
• 1936 Stanley Cup Finals → 1936 Stanley Cup Final
• 1937 Stanley Cup Finals → 1937 Stanley Cup Final
• 1938 Stanley Cup Finals → 1938 Stanley Cup Final
• 1939 Stanley Cup Finals → 1939 Stanley Cup Final
• 1940 Stanley Cup Finals → 1940 Stanley Cup Final
• 1941 Stanley Cup Finals → 1941 Stanley Cup Final
• 1942 Stanley Cup Finals → 1942 Stanley Cup Final
• 1943 Stanley Cup Finals → 1943 Stanley Cup Final
• 1944 Stanley Cup Finals → 1944 Stanley Cup Final
• 1945 Stanley Cup Finals → 1945 Stanley Cup Final
• 1946 Stanley Cup Finals → 1946 Stanley Cup Final
• 1947 Stanley Cup Finals → 1947 Stanley Cup Final
• 1948 Stanley Cup Finals → 1948 Stanley Cup Final
• 1949 Stanley Cup Finals → 1949 Stanley Cup Final
• 1950 Stanley Cup Finals → 1950 Stanley Cup Final
• 1951 Stanley Cup Finals → 1951 Stanley Cup Final
• 1952 Stanley Cup Finals → 1952 Stanley Cup Final
• 1953 Stanley Cup Finals → 1953 Stanley Cup Final
• 1954 Stanley Cup Finals → 1954 Stanley Cup Final
• 1955 Stanley Cup Finals → 1955 Stanley Cup Final
• 1956 Stanley Cup Finals → 1956 Stanley Cup Final
• 1957 Stanley Cup Finals → 1957 Stanley Cup Final
• 1958 Stanley Cup Finals → 1958 Stanley Cup Final
• 1959 Stanley Cup Finals → 1959 Stanley Cup Final
• 1960 Stanley Cup Finals → 1960 Stanley Cup Final
• 1961 Stanley Cup Finals → 1961 Stanley Cup Final
• 1962 Stanley Cup Finals → 1962 Stanley Cup Final
• 1963 Stanley Cup Finals → 1963 Stanley Cup Final
• 1964 Stanley Cup Finals → 1964 Stanley Cup Final
• 1965 Stanley Cup Finals → 1965 Stanley Cup Final
• 1966 Stanley Cup Finals → 1966 Stanley Cup Final
• 1967 Stanley Cup Finals → 1967 Stanley Cup Final
• 1968 Stanley Cup Finals → 1968 Stanley Cup Final
• 1969 Stanley Cup Finals → 1969 Stanley Cup Final
• 1970 Stanley Cup Finals → 1970 Stanley Cup Final
• 1971 Stanley Cup Finals → 1971 Stanley Cup Final
• 1972 Stanley Cup Finals → 1972 Stanley Cup Final
• 1973 Stanley Cup Finals → 1973 Stanley Cup Final
• 1974 Stanley Cup Finals → 1974 Stanley Cup Final
• 1975 Stanley Cup Finals → 1975 Stanley Cup Final
• 1976 Stanley Cup Finals → 1976 Stanley Cup Final
• 1977 Stanley Cup Finals → 1977 Stanley Cup Final
• 1978 Stanley Cup Finals → 1978 Stanley Cup Final
• 1979 Stanley Cup Finals → 1979 Stanley Cup Final
• 1980 Stanley Cup Finals → 1980 Stanley Cup Final
• 1981 Stanley Cup Finals → 1981 Stanley Cup Final
• 1982 Stanley Cup Finals → 1982 Stanley Cup Final
• 1983 Stanley Cup Finals → 1983 Stanley Cup Final
• 1984 Stanley Cup Finals → 1984 Stanley Cup Final
• 1985 Stanley Cup Finals → 1985 Stanley Cup Final
• 1986 Stanley Cup Finals → 1986 Stanley Cup Final
• 1987 Stanley Cup Finals → 1987 Stanley Cup Final
• 1988 Stanley Cup Finals → 1988 Stanley Cup Final
• 1989 Stanley Cup Finals → 1989 Stanley Cup Final
• 1990 Stanley Cup Finals → 1990 Stanley Cup Final
• 1991 Stanley Cup Finals → 1991 Stanley Cup Final
• 1992 Stanley Cup Finals → 1992 Stanley Cup Final
• 1993 Stanley Cup Finals → 1993 Stanley Cup Final
• 1994 Stanley Cup Finals → 1994 Stanley Cup Final
• 1995 Stanley Cup Finals → 1995 Stanley Cup Final
• 1996 Stanley Cup Finals → 1996 Stanley Cup Final
• 1997 Stanley Cup Finals → 1997 Stanley Cup Final
• 1998 Stanley Cup Finals → 1998 Stanley Cup Final
• 1999 Stanley Cup Finals → 1999 Stanley Cup Final
• 2000 Stanley Cup Finals → 2000 Stanley Cup Final
• 2001 Stanley Cup Finals → 2001 Stanley Cup Final
• 2002 Stanley Cup Finals → 2002 Stanley Cup Final
• 2003 Stanley Cup Finals → 2003 Stanley Cup Final
• 2004 Stanley Cup Finals → 2004 Stanley Cup Final
• 2006 Stanley Cup Finals → 2006 Stanley Cup Final
• 2007 Stanley Cup Finals → 2007 Stanley Cup Final
• 2008 Stanley Cup Finals → 2008 Stanley Cup Final
• 2009 Stanley Cup Finals → 2009 Stanley Cup Final
• 2010 Stanley Cup Finals → 2010 Stanley Cup Final
• 2011 Stanley Cup Finals → 2011 Stanley Cup Final
• 2012 Stanley Cup Finals → 2012 Stanley Cup Final
• 2013 Stanley Cup Finals → 2013 Stanley Cup Final
• 2014 Stanley Cup Finals → 2014 Stanley Cup Final
• 2015 Stanley Cup Finals → 2015 Stanley Cup Final
• 2016 Stanley Cup Finals → 2016 Stanley Cup Final
• 2017 Stanley Cup Finals → 2017 Stanley Cup Final
• 2018 Stanley Cup Finals → 2018 Stanley Cup Final
• 2019 Stanley Cup Finals → 2019 Stanley Cup Final
• 2020 Stanley Cup Finals → 2020 Stanley Cup Final
• 2021 Stanley Cup Finals → 2021 Stanley Cup Final
• 2022 Stanley Cup Finals → 2022 Stanley Cup Final
• 2023 Stanley Cup Finals → 2023 Stanley Cup Final
• 2024 Stanley Cup Finals → 2024 Stanley Cup Final
• 2025 Stanley Cup Finals → 2025 Stanley Cup Final
• Template:Stanley Cup Finals → Template:Stanley Cup Final
• Stanley Cup Finals television ratings → Stanley Cup Final television ratings
• List of Stanley Cup Finals broadcasters → List of Stanley Cup Final broadcasters
• List of American Stanley Cup Finals television announcers → List of American Stanley Cup Final television announcers
• List of Canadian Stanley Cup Finals television announcers → List of Canadian Stanley Cup Final television announcers
• List of Stanley Cup Finals officials → List of Stanley Cup Final officials
• List of Stanley Cup Finals overtime series winners → List of Stanley Cup Final overtime series winners
• List of Stanley Cup Finals sweeps → List of Stanley Cup Final sweeps

Should it be called the "Stanley Cup Final" or the "Stanley Cup Finals"? Left guide (talk) 20:57, 26 June 2025 (UTC) — Relisting. BD2412 T 23:59, 4 July 2025 (UTC)

Stanley Cup Final, which matches what the NHL and the majority of media sources refer to. Assadzadeh (talk) 21:37, 26 June 2025 (UTC)

@Left guide I think it should be final, as in, the final round of the playoffs. Semifinals can be plural because there are two. Buffalkill (talk) 21:58, 26 June 2025 (UTC)

I have removed the {{rfc}} tag as this is not an RfC matter. Please follow the directions at WP:RM/CM, and use {{subst:requested move|Stanley Cup Final|reason=(your reason here)}}. Remember to fill in the reason. --Redrose64 🌹 (talk) 22:12, 26 June 2025 (UTC)

Final, I advocated for it back then, and, despite me following the 2016 RfC to now, still want this to be changed. User:Conyo14/Final vs Finals Conyo14 (talk) 22:19, 26 June 2025 (UTC)

Final. This is both the official term used by the NHL and the most commonly used term by both American and Canadian media sources. The reality is, if this isn't changed, people are never going to stop requesting for it to be changed and we will have to keep going through this process year after year. Red0ctober22 (talk) 23:25, 26 June 2025 (UTC)

• Procedural note: So according to an experienced RfC patroller, this is supposed to be filed as an RM rather than an RfC (even though there seemed to be a consensus above to launch an RfC, which is why I did that), though it makes virtually no difference in terms of actually building consensus. Accordingly, I've added the RM paperwork to the top of this sub-thread. Left guide (talk) 04:22, 27 June 2025 (UTC)

  WP:RFCNOT did not exist back in May 2016 when I started that last RFC. It was more of a "free-for-all" before a 2019 discussion started the ball rolling on a consensus to not duplicate processes held elsewhere. As for this current discussion, I'm staying neutral like on the previous discussions. Zzyzx11 (talk) 06:48, 27 June 2025 (UTC)

Finals: The league was still using the term in publications as recently as 2015. The historically accurate name is what we have now and there is a century worth of publications that can back this up. Deadman137 (talk) 14:14, 27 June 2025 (UTC)

It's 2025 now and neither the league nor the majority of publications refer to the series as Finals anymore. Also, prior to 2006, the NHL did not even reference Final or Finals in the logo. After 2006, only Final was referenced. So, I question the validity of the assertion that there is a century worth of publications that can back this up. Assadzadeh (talk) 14:37, 27 June 2025 (UTC)

• Finals: People say that term often and it should be that. BattleshipMan (talk) 15:03, 27 June 2025 (UTC)
• So far, there seems to be many assertions and little evidence; the only evidence I see has been supplied by Conyo14 via a link to User:Conyo14/Final vs Finals. Is anyone able to rebut or refute Conyo14 with additional evidence? Per WP:VOTE, consensus is more about discussion and strength of arguments, and less about vote counts. Left guide (talk) 15:59, 27 June 2025 (UTC)

  I would actually want someone with a Newspapers.com account to see if the across the decades we see standing for finals vs final. For now, I've got more hard evidence to the contrary. Conyo14 (talk) 16:38, 27 June 2025 (UTC)

  I have Newspapers.com, and I did a very quick search, and actually noticed (at least from the top hits), that pre-2005, most American newspapers used "Finals", and most Canadian newspapers used "Final". Then post-2005 almost all newspapers use "Final", regardless of nationality. I will try to look into doing a more refined search. Red0ctober22 (talk) 19:46, 27 June 2025 (UTC)

• Finals for multi-game final series, and Final for pre-NHL single game championship game of the challenge gup. "Final" in other years can redirect to the decisive tie-breaker game if that was played (ie. game 7 in a best of 7) -- 65.93.183.249 (talk) 06:01, 28 June 2025 (UTC)
• Final. I thought about this quite a bit b4 submitting my "vote". And I paid attention to what print media was using and what the talking heads were saying. Most media seemed to use Final. Most talking heads seem to say Final BUT! in many cases it was like they were tripping over themselves to drop the S when saying Final. I also listened to the average joe to see what he was saying. And most people (myself included) seem to add the S when talking to each other about it. Since media and other print has trended away (they are not trending away) from FinalS, I think common name applies and it should be Final. That's my two bits. Masterhatch (talk) 20:04, 29 June 2025 (UTC)
• Final per the persuasive discussion in the section above and per the evidence provided, which appears to conclusively favor "final". WP:NAMECHANGES 101. I also see worth in a standardized name scheme for all the final(s) articles. Ed ^{[talk] [OMT]} 02:57, 30 June 2025 (UTC)
• Final - While a case can be made that both forms are used, and continue to be used, we should use the title the NHL uses itself. Many of the early articles used Finals as the term was common when the Wiki articles were written, but was not the term used at the time of the series. It has been called 'World Series' and 'Championship Series'. Changing it to Final, will conform to the NHL publicity materials, so we will not have to explain the difference here why Wikipedia uses Finals. I have always thought Final just made more sense, too. :-) Alaney2k (talk) 12:55, 30 June 2025 (UTC)

  Actually, we shouldn't use the specific naming the NHL uses. Then we'll have to call the Winter Classics by their branding names. We should never rely on primary sources, as I mentioned earlier about stylized titling of movies, for instance. "Finals" is correct English usage and is the more natural in written prose. It can be lowercase, as a compromise, but a multi-game/event instance is a finals. And speacking of naturalness, here's an example, a quick sentence from the description of Game six of the 2025 Finals: "Reinhart also became the first player to score four goals in a Finals game since Maurice Richard in 1957." Changing Finals to Final here would be confusing, since "final game" would normally mean the last game of the Finals, not any game in the Finals. Jmj713 (talk) 14:52, 30 June 2025 (UTC)

  I'm sorry, this logic is confusing me. Do you mind providing the reference to the specific article you found that? I'll also point out that the NHL isn't something we should worry about when talking about WP:COMMONNAME. Conyo14 (talk) 15:09, 30 June 2025 (UTC)

  @Jmj713: Let's acknowledge that the second part of your paragraph has no bearing on this RM, as article names and how we refer to a thing in prose can be different. That said, rewording that is very simple: "Reinhart also became the first player to score four goals in a Stanley Cup Final since Maurice Richard in 1957." Or "the series". Or "the finals", lowercase. Etc.

  @Conyo14: If everything else was equal, I wouldn't have a problem with the official name serving as a tiebreaker here. This is all over one "s". Even so, absent new evidence I don't see this as a close call. Ed ^{[talk] [OMT]} 15:20, 30 June 2025 (UTC)

  Still Final - it's a product name, so the NHL's term does matter. I can understand if every year it changed from say 'Firestone Stanley Cup Final' to 'Goodyear Stanley Cup Final'. In that case, I would agree to omit the sponsorship, similarly for the special outdoor games. A series of games is not referred to as a plural, so I disagree about proper English usage. It does not make sense to call it a series of Finals (games) as would be implied. It's the final series of games for the championship. Alaney2k (talk) 16:10, 30 June 2025 (UTC)

  I agree, as I have stated a few times already in this discussion way above here, there are cases where official branding matters more than grammatical rules, one example being Dunkin' Donuts instead of "Dunking Doughnuts". Red0ctober22 (talk) 17:50, 30 June 2025 (UTC)

  I would say official naming as used on Wikipedia is really dependent on secondary, reliable sources though. That's why I provided the link above to help. Although using the official branding as a tiebreaker is fine. Conyo14 (talk) 18:47, 30 June 2025 (UTC)

  I provided two reputable dictionary links earlier, "finals" is a common English plural noun referring to the last part of a championship. Jmj713 (talk) 22:55, 30 June 2025 (UTC)

  Ah, so then we must proceed to which is more commonly used in media, hence User:Conyo14/Final vs Finals Conyo14 (talk) 23:19, 30 June 2025 (UTC)

• Final - From 2009 to 2021 the jersey patch referred to this series as the "Stanley Cup Final." I don't think it's incorrect if someone says Finals but as a jersey-head my lean would go to matching official branding.

MatthewNewHouse (talk) 19:01, 1 July 2025 (UTC)

• Finals - I feel this term makes more sense as multiple games (Finals) are played, as opposed to a single game (such as the Super Bowl). Also, the NBA, who has a similar playoff format, uses the term Finals.

M48Patton06 (talk) 00:15, 3 July 2025 (UTC)

• Final: I was originally neutral on this and started the RfC/RM to provide procedural assistance, but have since been persuaded by the well-researched evidence presented at User:Conyo14/Final vs Finals. Based on said evidence, titling the articles with "Final" is supported by the lead of Wikipedia's article title policy WP:AT:

  Generally, article titles are based on what the subject is called in reliable sources.

  re-emphasized in its section WP:CRITERIA:

  Article titles are based on how reliable English-language sources refer to the article's subject.

  and further clarified in its section WP:COMMONNAME:

  Wikipedia…generally prefers the name that is most commonly used (as determined by its prevalence in a significant majority of independent, reliable, English-language sources) as such names will usually best fit the five criteria.

  Left guide (talk) 00:47, 3 July 2025 (UTC)

  So, can we agree that consensus has been reached and if yes, what's the next step? Assadzadeh (talk) 01:12, 3 July 2025 (UTC)

  I am glad to see my evidence is being used correctly, but I wouldn't say consensus has been achieved yet. Perhaps we should let the discussion die down after a few more days. Conyo14 (talk) 01:52, 3 July 2025 (UTC)

  Doesn't look unanimous, so we'd have to wait for an uninvolved closer to assess consensus. Left guide (talk) 01:54, 3 July 2025 (UTC)

• Yeah, I think we shouldn't rush this close as it's been at hot button issue for a long time. Masterhatch (talk) 04:38, 3 July 2025 (UTC)
• Note to closer: If this RM is successful, I'd also request that Category:Stanley Cup Finals be speedy-moved to Category:Stanley Cup Final under WP:C2D criteria. I tried listing it in the RM, but the template doesn't allow categories. Left guide (talk) 08:19, 4 July 2025 (UTC)

  I don't think it qualifies for moving without a new discussion. Categories are pluralized. -- 00:18, 6 July 2025 (UTC) 65.93.183.181 (talk) 00:19, 6 July 2025 (UTC)

  It would be pluralized if it was solely a list of all the Stanley Cup Finals that have ever happened, but the category in this instance lists pages that relate to the entire topic of the "Stanley Cup Final", so I don't see why it would be pluralized if it is changed Red0ctober22 (talk) 03:37, 6 July 2025 (UTC)

• Final whilst personally I think 'Finals' is better grammar (as there is more than 1 match), the WP:COMMONNAME as demonstrated by others throughout this RFC/RM is that 'Final' is the term most commonly used in reliable, independent sources. Joseph2302 (talk) 08:30, 4 July 2025 (UTC)

Relisting comment: Relisting for clearer consensus. BD2412 T 23:59, 4 July 2025 (UTC)

• Final. In addition to the league using the name, reliable sources do too. See AP ESPN NBC CBS CNN The Athletic. ~~ Jessintime (talk) 12:10, 5 July 2025 (UTC)
• Final. After reviewing the comments here and the research conducted by User:Conyo14/Final vs Finals, I have to say that I would prefer going with the name "Final." Even based on my own personal experiences, I hear "Final" used a lot more than "Finals." WikiGiancarloC2 (talk) 13:28, 7 July 2025 (UTC)
• Comment I lean Finals, but it seems consensus is overwhelming for Final. However, NGRAM shows Finals was far more common until very recently. Finals sounds more right to me than Final, but Final does seem to be the official name. Metallurgist (talk) 19:38, 10 July 2025 (UTC)

  Yes, I maintain that "finals" is correct English for the final part of a tournament. If it's a single game, then it's a final. If it's multiple games or events, it's finals. Jmj713 (talk) 23:40, 10 July 2025 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Post-closure discussion

By the way, now that this has been changed across the board for every year, it's ahistoric in the other direction, as it was commonly referred to as the Finals pre-2006. Pull up any media for the 1995 season, for example, and it mostly will be referred to as the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals. Jmj713 (talk) 15:49, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

The NHL officially uses the "Final" terminology retroactively though (see here). Best to just keep it consistent and have them all use the same. Red0ctober22 (talk) 20:33, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

Let's not go against the RM please, especially since I found examples from the 80s that had Final. Conyo14 (talk) 20:47, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

I dont wish to overturn this consensus, but on what basis do we have to follow what they retroactively did? If they renamed it the Bettman Cup Finals retroactively (the controversy that would cause aside), would we have to follow that? Metallurgist (talk) 20:49, 16 July 2025 (UTC)

The problem that I see is that we're trying to determine correct terminology based mostly on recent reliable sources (RS), not based on what was in use at the time. To give you an example from another sport, the WNBA referred to its championship in its first five years simply as WNBA Championship. It wasn't until 2002 that they adopted the terminology WNBA Finals (perhaps to bring it in line with NBA Finals), but I bet most RS today refer to the early years as Finals.

Although Conyo14 found examples from the 80s, the fact that we were trying to determine whether the correct terminology should be "Final", "Finals", or something else is based on recent history. My guess is that editors who created the articles about the early years retroactively applied Finals (now Final).

So, even if the NHL renamed it the Bettman Cup Finals retroactively, we would still leave the historic articles as they are, because RS would still exist that refer to the historic names. Assadzadeh (talk) 23:56, 16 July 2025 (UTC)

For what it's worth a quick look through some older articles I often found the phrase Stanley Cup Final Series which is where I can imagine the shortened "Stanley Cup Final" began. So it's something that in a way was used before the current terminology. MatthewNewHouse (talk) 21:04, 20 July 2025 (UTC)

A good example of this is the Super Bowl. The first two Super Bowls were actually called the "AFL–NFL World Championship Game", and I believe the first actual "Super Bowl" was Super Bowl III, yet we still call the first two "Super Bowl I" and "Super Bowl II". Red0ctober22 (talk) 16:11, 21 July 2025 (UTC)

1914 Challenge

An editor has added a 300 word write up on the 1914 SC Challenge. While the write up of a single "challenge era" series seems excessive and takes up a lot of space within the article, I will leave it to other editors to keep or remove it. However, the edition of a game series infobox is beyond excessive. I have reverted/removed the infobox but kept the all the text, despite it being out of place and odd. ~2025-41251-21 (talk) 01:16, 12 January 2026 (UTC)