Posted by Joy Russo
Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, we all have a good idea of who will likely make the playoffs. Still, it will be a battle to the finish for postseason position.
Which brings us to the Presidents' Trophy. Sorry, but the nod for best regular-season record seems more like a curse than a reward, at least when you consider the past 20 years.
Just ask the Red Wings. Yes, home-ice advantage can be important, maybe more important in the second round (during last season's playoffs, the higher-seeded teams won all four series in the East, but lost all four in the West). But don't you think, deep down, Detroit is secretly wishing not to have that Presidents' monkey on its back when the playoffs begin on Wednesday?
No team wants to deal with stigmas or superstitions (ahem, that includes you, Marty Turco). So, here's a look at how Presidents' Trophy winners have fared over the past few years. Needless to say, it isn't a bonus.
2006 -- Detroit Red Wings
• A blazing start to the season helped the Wings finish the 2005-06 campaign with 124 points, 11 more than Eastern Conference top seed, Ottawa. But Detroit would not go far in the playoffs. With Pavel Datsyuk, Brendan Shanahan and Tomas Holmstrom combining for just two goals in the entire series, the eighth-seeded Oilers shocked the Wings in six games in the first round. The Oilers went on to reach the Cup finals.
(2005 -- Blasted lockout!)
2004 -- Detroit Red Wings
• The Red Wings again finished the regular season atop the league standings with 109 points. Oh, to play in the same conference with Columbus and Chicago! But the playoffs were another disappointment. After beating the Predators in six games to open the playoffs, Detroit was ousted in the conference semifinals (six games) by eventual West champ Calgary.
2003 -- Ottawa Senators
• The Senators took home the Presidents' Trophy with the help of goalie Patrick Lalime, who went 39-20-7 with a 2.16 goals-against average and .911 save percentage. He was also second in the league in wins and shutouts (eight). The Sens easily beat the Islanders in the first round, 4-1. And while they were pushed by the Flyers in the second round, the Sens still won in six games to reach their first conference finals. Ottawa then lost in seven games to eventual Cup champion New Jersey.
2002 -- Detroit Red Wings
• Another dominating regular season for the Red Wings, who finished with 116 points, 15 more than Eastern Conference champ Boston. (It must seem so long ago for Bruins fans.) This season, unlike recently, Detroit went wire-to-wire. After the Wings were predicted to win it all from the start of the campaign, they ousted Carolina in five games to win their third Cup in six seasons.
2001 -- Colorado Avalanche
• The Avs finished the regular season with 118 points. They easily swept the Canucks in the first round, but needed seven games to get past the Kings in the conference semifinals. Colorado met St. Louis in the West finals, and although the Avs won the series 4-1, the last three games of the series went into overtime. Then, Colorado erased a 3-2 series deficit and beat the Devils in seven to win its second Cup since 1996. It was also the first Cup for Ray Bourque, who was traded by Boston to Colorado the previous season.
2000 -- St. Louis Blues
• St. Louis finished the season with 114 points and earned its 20th straight postseason berth. But the Blues' strong regular season would be for nothing as the San Jose Sharks pulled off the seven-game upset in the first round. St. Louis was down 3-1 early in the series and forced the seventh game, but it could not come up with the clincher on home ice.
Other Presidents' Trophy winners and how far they went in the playoffs:
1999 -- Dallas Stars: Finished with 114 points, won the Stanley Cup.
1998 -- Dallas Stars: Finished with 109 points, lost to Detroit in the conference finals. (Detroit went on to win the Cup.)
1997 -- Colorado Avalanche: Finished season with 107 points, lost to Detroit in the conference finals. (Detroit went on to win the Cup.)
1996 -- Detroit Red Wings: Finished with 131 points, lost to Colorado in the conference finals. (Colorado went on to win the Cup.)
1995 -- Detroit Red Wings: Finished with 70 points (shortened lockout season), lost to New Jersey in the Cup finals.
1994 -- New York Rangers: Finished with 112 points, won the Stanley Cup.
1993 -- Pittsburgh Penguins: Finished with 119 points, lost to New York Islanders in division finals.
1992 -- New York Rangers: Finished with 105 points, lost to Pittsburgh Penguins in division finals. (Pittsburgh went on to win the Cup.)
1991 -- Chicago Blackhawks: Finished with 106 points, lost to Minnesota in division semifinals.
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