The point of the discussion anyway, is not whether fans care about it or not, its whether the consistency over longer period of time is actually not better measure of teams quality than winning the play-offs, even if the prize, you get for winning the play-offs, is the ultimate one (cause Merica, eh…). And therefore why, perhaps, it should deserve more recognition, than its getting, as seen in this very thread.
If your argument is that 82 games is a more precise measurement of a team's effectiveness I would disagree. You may think the more games eliminates variance but there's issues with that, subjectively of course...
1) There's a sporadic level of competition over the regular season. Teams don't play the same amount of games against each other. If it were a 64 game season perhaps you'd have a point but there are 18 games for each team in the regular season that are different from one team to the next.
2) Players get called up more frequently, players get injured more frequently, teams make trades, coaches get fired, etc...Rosters, and therefore the level of competition the team is bringing, is much more dynamic in the regular season than in the playoffs. Yes there are injuries in the playoffs but the rosters are much more set in stone.
3) 10-20 games of the season are decided in 3v3 OT or Shootouts. I love this format personally because the Regular Season is long and games have to end relatively quickly so players aren't exhausted or overly-injured. However this is obviously not how games end in the playoffs. Continuous OT is clearly the most accurate reflection of how a tied hockey game should play out until we find a winner.
4) Because of this OT format and the loser point, teams can and IMO do sometimes play "not to lose" as opposed to play to win. Ensuring at least one point out of two makes sense over the course of a long season.
5) Teams don't play to win the President's Trophy. They play to make the playoffs, be as healthy as possible before they start, and be ready to go come playoff time. Frequently teams will rest players towards the end of the season if they're comfortably in a playoff spot and "have nothing left to play for" before the playoffs start.
All of these dampen the significance of the President's Trophy. It's not that it doesn't matter, just that the league isn't structured around it's importance. The playoffs are the true test. Fans can writhe their hands about small sample sizes and luck being a factor but I think that's nonsense. When the playoffs start the chips are down. How effective are you as a player and how effective are you as a team to win games when it's most needed? Can you do that over 2 months and 4 rounds of the most intense hockey in the world? If so then you get to be crowned as a Stanley Cup Champion.
I wouldn't have it any other way.