Time to abandon the President's Trophy?

[Big Z Man 1990]

Since 1986, the President's Trophy winner has gone on to win the Cup only 8 times, with only one of them coming from the Eastern Conference.

By contrast, teams who finished with the most points won the Cup more often when the President's Trophy wasn't a thing.

Is it time the NHL acknowledge that the President's Trophy is cursed and do away with it?

 

[FinlandPanther]

Championships are hard to win. Regular season means jackshit.

 

[paragon]

Since 1986, the President's Trophy winner has gone on to win the Cup only 8 times, with only one of them coming from the Eastern Conference.

By contrast, teams who finished with the most points won the Cup more often when the President's Trophy wasn't a thing.

Is it time the NHL acknowledge that the President's Trophy is cursed and do away with it?

What a bad take to compare the no-parity beer league with the salary cap era.

 

[NVious]

Most of the time President's trophy winners are not winning by some massive margin, it can often be even a few percentages better than other teams which can be explained by puck luck or variance:

1.Pres trophy are healthy
2.Pres trophy run into teams that are injured
3.Pres trophy have a slightly easier schedule
4.Other contenders are banged up
5.Pres trophy play a style that allows them to smash the lower teams but doesn't work vs the best

So it shouldn't be expect that it is some massive advantage, however clearly it is 8/30 is obviously a better predictor than randomly selecting a playoff team, but obviously it's imperfect. But again, the margin they're winning by is often not as massive as it may seem.

When you say somebody is first, they can be clearly first or they could be first by 4-6-8 points which could easily be explained by variance. So again, there's no curse, but teams around them are just much closer than it would appear.

I'm sure if you looked at top 2 teams and top 4 teams it becomes an even better predictor and realistically any top 4 team could easily win the President's trophy.

 

[TheDoldrums]

Winning over 20% of the time when they are 1/16 teams isn't that bad. The bigger curse is not understanding probability.

 

[BKarchitect]

Most of the time President's trophy winners are not winning by some massive margin, it can often be even a few percentages better than other teams which can be explained by puck luck or variance:
We
1.Pres trophy are healthy
2.Pres trophy run into teams that are injured
3.Pres trophy have a slightly easier schedule
4.Other contenders are banged up
5.Pres trophy play a style that allows them to smash the lower teams but doesn't work vs the best

So it shouldn't be expect that it is some massive advantage, however clearly it is 8/30 is obviously a better predictor than randomly selecting a playoff team, but obviously it's imperfect. But again, the margin they're winning by is often not as massive as it may seem.

When you say somebody is first, they can be clearly first or they could be first by 4-6-8 points which could easily be explained by variance. So again, there's no curse, but teams around them are just much closer than it would appear.

But…why?

It’s not the trophy’s fault the regular season’s “best” team falters in the playoffs. I doubt any players care about it. We as fans don’t care about it. It’s just low level recognition for a purely factual outcome that X team accrued the most points any given year.

It is mathematically long odds for any team to win the Cup any given year, President’s Trophy winners included. The most likely outcome by a ridiculously far amount for every President’s Trophy winners is…to not win the Cup.

 

[NVious]

But…why?

It’s not the trophy’s fault the regular season’s “best” team falters in the playoffs. I doubt any players care about it. We as fans don’t care about it. It’s just low level recognition for a purely factual outcome that X team accrued the most points any given year.

It is mathematically long odds for any team to win the Cup any given year, President’s Trophy winners included. The most likely outcome by a ridiculously far amount for every President’s Trophy winners is…to not win the Cup.

Ok I called Gary, I told him BKarchitecht is not happy with the President's Trophy and it's cancelled as of next year.

 

[Coffey]

Try too hard in the regular season and you’re out of gas come playoff time.

 

[BKarchitect]

Ok I called Gary, I told him BKarchitecht is not happy with the President's Trophy and it's cancelled as of next year.

I mean…I agree with your analysis.

Sorry I meant to quote the OP, not you, my bad

 

[StreetHawk]

1 teams vs 15 others. Pretty much always take the field.

Margins between teams isn't that big.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Nope. Keep the curse going. Makes for better drama when people cry about it.

 

[Jumptheshark]

we get this thread every time this time of the year. For me it is lets piss into the wind thread.

A team that wins regular season with pts should get some acknowledgement. Playoffs? It is a different species.

 

[Kahvi]

They should also cancel Calder trophy. Some of the winners dont become elite players, so what's the point. And Art Ross, Jamie Benn is not really a good scorer so why should he have Art Ross.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

Why? Say what you will, I think it’s a cool accomplishment.

Some sports/leagues decide the champion based on the regular season. And especially after 82 games, it’s not easy to finish first. It’s memories for the fans and especially some franchises that aren’t used to that level of success it can be something to be proud of.

Just take it as what it is and don’t think of it as an indication of how the team should do in the playoffs and I see no problem.

 

[Statto]

I’m not equating it to the playoffs but being the best team over 82 games isn’t exactly easy. In general I think it’s very underrated.

 

[JKG33]

The president's trophy isn't a curse. But it absolutely not an indicator of a team's likelihood to win the cup. In fact I'd go as far as saying I'd rather see my team not win it.

The regular season is a grind. The teams that go full send to win the PT likely then dont have that extra gear come playoff time, they've been using it the whole season. Where as cup winners are fine to chill out and just get into the playoffs and finding that next level.

Washington, Tampa, Colorado, Florida all won the cup within a year or two after winning the PT. Because they had strong teams, upgraded those teams in following years, and realized they didnt need to use it all up in the regular season. Save some gas in the tank for what matters, playoffs.

In the pre-cap world, a team was more likely to have a loaded roster and dominate both regular and post seasons. But now? You cant build those kinds of super teams anymore. There's a reason the PT winner has only won the cup twice in the cap era. The only time it happened in a full season was nearly 20 years ago. The Hawks doing it in a lockout season meant they had to maintain that level for 30something fewer games

 

[MrHeiskanen]

No you can't abandon it, some teams, like the Winnipeg Jets, Maple Leafs, and a few others feed on these regular season trophies. It gives their fans some excitement and something to cheer for.

 

[ijuka]

Since 1986, the President's Trophy winner has gone on to win the Cup only 8 times, with only one of them coming from the Eastern Conference.

By contrast, teams who finished with the most points won the Cup more often when the President's Trophy wasn't a thing.

Is it time the NHL acknowledge that the President's Trophy is cursed and do away with it?

How many times has the team that finished #2 in the President's Trophy race won the cup since 1986? Please tell us.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

MLB, NFL and NBA (until stupidly adding one a couple years ago) have no such trophy. Becaue it's stupid and meaningless....no one cares if you had the best regular season record, the only championship that matters is the Stanley Cup. Everyone knows it.

It should be removed. At this point it's merely bad stigma and pressure to be associated with.

Ditch it and change the format back to 1-8 with re-seeding to actually reward top teams in the championship that actually matters.

 

[ijuka]

MLB, NFL and NBA (until stupidly adding one a couple years ago) have no such trophy. Becaue it's stupid and meaningless....no one cares if you had the best regular season record, the only championship that matters is the Stanley Cup. Everyone knows it.

It should be removed. At this point it's merely bad stigma and pressure to be associated with.

Ditch it and change the format back to 1-8 with re-seeding to actually reward top teams in the championship that actually matters.

Reminder that the regular season is almost 95% of the games played.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

Reminder that the regular season is almost 95% of the games played.

Same case for the other leagues....and the same argument applies. Nobody cares about the fact that you were the best in the regular season, in and of itself.

 

[eojsmada]

I mean...someone has to have the best record during the regular season. And the "Trophy" is like a "Good for you" kind of award.

 

[ijuka]

Same case for the other leagues....and the same argument applies. Nobody cares about the fact that you were the best in the regular season, in and of itself.

My point is that for the league's existence, regular season is far more important than playoffs. The league could get by just fine without having playoffs at all, but it'd be a death sentence to not have the regular season. Regular season is also what the players are actually paid to do—playoffs are essentially free labor, as players receive no pay for playoff games.

It is different from many other sports, such as Tennis, where tournament winners actually earn a lot of money. Stanley Cup winners earn nothing. For their bank accounts, the meaning of playoffs is zero.

 

[Breakers]

Sp if a team wins their conference and does touch the conference trophy and they lose in the finals.......... should the NHL do away it becuase it is cursed?

 

[a mangy Meowth]

It's already devalued in the eyes of many fans.. However, this is a silly suggestion because even if the trophy didn't exist, there will always be a team that has the most points, so they'd just call it the curse of regular season champs or whatever. Call it whatever you want, similar to the Art Ross = Scoring Title. This is just talking to talk.