The President's Trophy deserves way more respect.

[Strangle]

The Presidents Trophy is a lot like the Popular Vote

It only means something if you lose

 

[cowboy82nd]

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?

Two cups to one? Yes, more successful. And they went to three consecutive Western Conference Finals. Playoff success accounts for something.

 

[GMR]

Teams don't sell out to win the Presidents Trophy the same way soccer teams in Europe sell out to finish top of their league. The trophy is just not as prestigious for that reason. Yes, it's an impressive accomplishment over 82 games but you have to remember not every team is going all out. Many teams are just positioning for the playoffs, resting players, etc.

 

[BlueAzN]

Nope, it's the Stanley Cup that matters. Playoffs matter more, it's where you play the best of the best.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Two cups to one? Yes, more successful. And they went to three consecutive Western Conference Finals. Playoff success accounts for something.

Right? Who would rather have their team be like the Capitals and win 3 PT's but be playoff disappointments every season except one? The Bruins wet the bed every year in the playoffs, lost one SCF in 17 seconds and totally blew it in game 7 of another. Hell freaking no would I rather my team do that and rest on the laurels of regular season success.

I'd much rather be a Kings fan and look back on an insane run from 2012, 2013, and 2014 where they phenomenal winning 2 Cups and making it to the WCF as well. In 2012 they beat the #1, 2, and 3 seeds in the West as an #8 seed. They had an all time performance from Quick and the whole team was firing on all cylinders. THAT is the sort of thing you look back on fondly for the rest of your life. Not "oh wow remember that one year in 2019 when the Bruins finished with 128 points". Give me a break.

This whole thread is just soccer fans/euro fans with different priorities, which is fine. Or people who subscribe to the notion that the playoffs are all or mostly based on luck, which is asinine. In NA no one will ever care about the President's Trophy unless they do something to give that team a bigger advantage in the playoffs.

 

[Not The One]

I've been saying for years that the league and the fans should embrace other competitions and tournaments.

There are now 32 teams, and perhaps even more soon. It's a very (too) long season as well so I can't blame people tuning it out when their favorite teams are out of it. Of course the SC is the ultimate achievement but I do think fans need something more to hold their interest in the long term and ti create more interest and excitement.

Not really a soccer fan myself but that is certainly something that they seem to do very well.

 

[msrulo]

The Stanley Cup is all that matters.

 

[HanSolo]

No. In a league where you can have teams feast on bottom feeders with no chance of making the playoffs and teams that don't start playing to the best of their abilities until the playoffs, it's a lot less impressive than a cup in an 82 game season.

I can understand if we followed the European soccer model where teams play 38 games and the top spot in the table is the only real championship for their league's competition. But that's not what we have. The highest level of play comes in the Stanley Cup playoffs, so the biggest test of a champion comes from that competition. The President's trophy is an award for the best performance in, ultimately, chasing top seeding in the playoffs.