The President's Trophy deserves way more respect.

[TGWL]

Rangers have the banner from last year. It says regular season champions.

 

[BB79]

1) I’m not trolling
2) of course you’d take Tampa’s success, they’ve won two cups, four ECFs, and a Presidents trophy
3) I don’t understand why you would rather see your team lose more games and have not trophy rather than win more games and have a compensatory trophy.

1)- honestly couldn't tell
2)- 3 cups if you count 04...people remember cup victories, no one cares about finishing first then bombing out in the playoffs when it matters most. See:2023 Bruins. Having that regular season record then bombing out made it even worse TBH.
3)-I'd rather see my team finish in 3rd place then tear it up in the playoffs than finish first and have the entire league gunning for you. Not only that but the expectation of running the table and winning the cup after winning the president's almost always ends in disappointment. Why is that a good thing? We play to win Stanley Cups and that's it. Division banners are pretty to look at in the rafters but aren't the reason teams compete.

 

[Dread Clawz]

It's fun to win it, but it pales in comparison to Lord Stanley.

 

[karltonian]

Agreed, OP. You have to win a lot more than 16 games to win it.

 

[24 others]

It's ridiculous that so many NHL fans deride the President's Trophy and dismiss it as meaningless. Teams and players should take pride in being more successful than 31 other teams over an 82-game sample size. It's a testament to the group's talent, consistency, effort, and cohesion. Fans should be grateful and thrilled to watch their team win night-in and night-out for seven months.

I've long held this opinion, but--as a Panthers fan--the time is right to declare it.
The 2021-22 President's Trophy run was by far the most entertaining season of hockey I've ever watched. It was disappointing when they were swept in the second round, but that couldn't negate how much fun the lead-up was. The 2022-23 season couldn't even keep me engaged until the playoffs. As the 2023-24 season concluded, I found myself really, really hoping they could win enough games to catch the President's Trophy again. Obviously the playoffs were exhilarating, but they were equally stressful since the small sample size of each series is so luck dependent. You're more focused on your team not losing as opposed to actually winning.

When we look at team (and to a lesser extent player) success, the President's Trophy should count a tier below the Cup.
For example, in the Salary Cap Era, the Kings have won 2 cups (one entirely on the back of Jonathan Quick), 10 playoff series, and made the playoffs 9 times. Can anybody seriously claim that they've been more successful than the Capitals and Bruins? Does anybody really believe that they're more comparable to the Lightning and Blackhawks than the Blues and Red Wings?

Agreed. The regular season is simply a better indicator of a team's strength than the playoffs. Statistically speaking, success in regular season cannot be a matter of luck - a President's trophy winner is never a fluke. In playoff though, an unfortunate injury or a random goalie getting randomly hot can make all the difference.

In hindsight, of course, we romanticize playoff success - we are sports fans, after all. So we downplay the role of luck and claim instead that the team was "built for the playoffs" and that their "true character was shown in the playoffs" and so forth.

Or, of course, one can do what many posters in this thread do, which is to chant "Cup is the only thing that matters" ("Nobody remembers number two", as a certain player once asserted). But if you can overcome this tunnel view, then I think you must appreciate the meaningfulness of the Presidents' trophy, too.

 

[MadLuke]

Cinderella run that feel lucky do exist (2021 mtl being maybe the worst modern case), but they about never end up with a cup.

Winning all 4 round, best of 7, that's hard, how many fluky cup winner have we seen.. not really a big issue with nhl playoff format and rules.

 

[Oddbob]

Oh yes, I would much rather win 62 games in the regular season and only 2 in the postseason, as opposed to 44 in the season and 16 in the playoffs.

 

[BigEezyE22]

Hard no. Bad take. 8 of near 40 teams to win the Presidents have won the Cup.

We only care about Champions. The Presidents, divisions, EC/WC, etc are all loser banners without a Cup next to them.

That's 20% of the cups going to the spot that represents about 6.5% of the playoff field.

How many cups have gone to 2nd overall?

12th overall?

 

[BTP]

Oh yes, I would much rather win 62 games in the regular season and only 2 in the postseason, as opposed to 44 in the season and 16 in the playoffs.

Shocking how so many of you are missing the point entirely. lol

 

[daver]

I wonder what Ricky Bobby would say?

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Championships matter. The President's Trophy means very little if you don't deliver in the playoffs.

 

[daver]

Agreed. The regular season is simply a better indicator of a team's strength than the playoffs. Statistically speaking, success in regular season cannot be a matter of luck - a President's trophy winner is never a fluke. In playoff though, an unfortunate injury or a random goalie getting randomly hot can make all the difference.

In hindsight, of course, we romanticize playoff success - we are sports fans, after all. So we downplay the role of luck and claim instead that the team was "built for the playoffs" and that their "true character was shown in the playoffs" and so forth.

Or, of course, one can do what many posters in this thread do, which is to chant "Cup is the only thing that matters" ("Nobody remembers number two", as a certain player once asserted). But if you can overcome this tunnel view, then I think you must appreciate the meaningfulness of the Presidents' trophy, too.

How many coaches are strategizing to win the President's trophy?

 

[NotCommitted]

OP kinda has a point but it's negated (and always will be) as long as winning the Stanley Cup is being seen as winning the championship.

From purely sporting perspective, if the aim was to find the "all around best team" then a league system where each team played vs every other team the same number of games and who has the most points as the end was crowned the champion makes a lot of sense.

From a spectator view point this kind of system has it's pros and cons - the upside is every game matters and games between strong teams carry extra meaning all through the season, winning those head to head games becomes doubly important, you're not only gaining points for the win but also denying those points from a big rival and in case of a tie those games would be used as a tie breaker. So it spreads the "excitement" over the course of a season, it's almost like playing a "playoff" series within the season. The obvious big downside is you might be out of the running pretty early and also a really strong season by a team can mean the championship is decided way before the season is over. Also there are no cinderella runs, or they are REALLY rare. If you're a middle of the pack team, there's barely any hope you'll win it all.

But this is not how NHL works, the whole conference and division system means the regular season is flawed from the get go for finding the "best team". Also everyone knows the aim is to be a playoff team, not to win the regular season, so teams play and plan accordingly. The playoffs are the big spectacle, the regular season is there to find the teams "worthy" of getting in, but more importantly to provide entertainment for the fans and generate revenue. Let's face it, from a sporting perspective a 82 regular season makes no sense especially when half the teams then make the playoffs, that's WAY more games than realistically "needed" just for qualifying.

A cup system is really entertaining though and creates upsets and a sense of "anything can happen in a series", so once the playoffs start, fans of every team who got in think they "have a chance" even if a remote one. It's true it's also way more luck based (even with a best of seven series) than a long league, because even a small injury (missing a few games) to a key player can be huge. Having the "two best teams" hash it out in a best of seven is also a great way to ensure the "best team" (at least of those two) wins the championship.

 

[Matty Sundin]

What teams like Boston 2023 and Tampa Bay 2019 accomplished in regular season deserves props. Their playoff performances that year though kinda over shadows it.

 

[Smash]

Winning the presidents trophy is impressive and says a lot about a team. But I think every competitive team, or team with hopes of being competitive, has their eyes on only one thing which is the Cup.

So I think some teams are fine sacrificing regular season success, mindfully or not, because it may give them a chance at a better post season. because no one’s playing for the Presidents, they’re all playing for the Stanley Cup.

 

[LeafGrief]

Absolutely, because the President's Trophy being meaningless is linked hand in hand with the regular season being meaningless. And when the regular season is meaningless, the entertainment value of regular season games drops. Why will I go out of my way to watch a meaningless game against a team that I don't care about, when I could be doing something else with my time instead? A Tuesday night game in December doesn't need to be do-or-die, but it would be nice if there was a bit more pride on the line.

I don't know how to adjust NHL culture to believe that regular season standings matter, but I do believe it would mean a more entertaining product for the fans. This "championships are the only thing that matter" is easily the most poisonous and self-defeating narrative in North American professional sports. The best team in an 82 game regular season is incredibly difficult.

And don't you worry, the Leafs haven't won the league points-wise since '63, so your jokes are still good to go!

 

[The Panther]

It's ridiculous that so many NHL fans deride the President's Trophy and dismiss it as meaningless. Teams and players should take pride in being more successful than 31 other teams over an 82-game sample size. It's a testament to the group's talent, consistency, effort, and cohesion. Fans should be grateful and thrilled to watch their team win night-in and night-out for seven months.

I've long held this opinion, but--as a Panthers fan--the time is right to declare it.
The 2021-22 President's Trophy run was by far the most entertaining season of hockey I've ever watched. It was disappointing when they were swept in the second round, but that couldn't negate how much fun the lead-up was. The 2022-23 season couldn't even keep me engaged until the playoffs. As the 2023-24 season concluded, I found myself really, really hoping they could win enough games to catch the President's Trophy again. Obviously the playoffs were exhilarating, but they were equally stressful since the small sample size of each series is so luck dependent. You're more focused on your team not losing as opposed to actually winning.

When we look at team (and to a lesser extent player) success, the President's Trophy should count a tier below the Cup.
For example, in the Salary Cap Era, the Kings have won 2 cups (one entirely on the back of Jonathan Quick), 10 playoff series, and made the playoffs 9 times. Can anybody seriously claim that they've been more successful than the Capitals and Bruins? Does anybody really believe that they're more comparable to the Lightning and Blackhawks than the Blues and Red Wings?

I'm not sure about your example at the end, but yes I agree with your point. The President's Trophy is a major achievement.

 

[Wierzbowski426]

Playoffs seperate the men from the boys.

OP should just watch soccer. American(canadian) sports have never been about the regular season. ever. for any league. It's just the vessel to get you into the playoffs and home field/ice.

Best record doesnt matter in baseball, football, basketball, the wnba etc.

I think its got about the right amount of respect.

 

[aceofpace]

Rangers have the banner from last year. It says regular season champions.

 

[nightonthesun]

Playoffs seperate the men from the boys.

This is my argument too— the regular season’s end goal is to serve this specific purpose. It matters but to an extent. There are big games; there are snoozers. I maintain that it’s too long.

OP should just watch soccer.

I dunno, maybe they’re on to something: they celebrate season results just as much as they do their tournament trophies.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

This is my argument too— the regular season’s end goal is to serve this specific purpose. It matters but to an extent. There are big games; there are snoozers. I maintain that it’s too long.

I dunno, maybe they’re on to something: they celebrate season results just as much as they do their tournament trophies.

One of its two end goals. The other is funding the league.