Presidents' Trophy

The Presidents' Trophy () is an award presented by the National Hockey League (NHL) to the team that finishes with the most points (i.e. best record) during the NHL regular season. If two teams are tied for the most points, then the Trophy goes to the team with the most regulation wins (RW). The Presidents' Trophy has been awarded 37 times to 18 different teams since its inception during the 1985–86 NHL season.
As the team with the best regular season record, the Presidents' Trophy winner is normally guaranteed home-ice advantage throughout the entire Stanley Cup playoffs. However, it does not guarantee playoff success, as the winner of the Presidents' Trophy has won the Stanley Cup only eight times. Three other teams reached the Stanley Cup Finals, but failed to win. The most recent team to win both the Presidents' Trophy and the Stanley Cup in the same season were the 2012–13 Chicago Blackhawks. The only team to accomplish this more than once is the Detroit Red Wings.
==History==
The Trophy was introduced at the start of the NHL season by the League's Board of Governors. Prior to this, the best team in the League during the regular season was allowed to hang a banner reading "NHL League Champions."
A total of 18 teams have won the Presidents' Trophy. The Detroit Red Wings have won six Presidents' Trophies, the most of any team. The Boston Bruins are second with four. The Colorado Avalanche, New York Rangers and Washington Capitals are all tied for third with three. Five teams (Calgary Flames, Chicago Blackhawks, Dallas Stars, Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks) are tied for fourth most with two Presidents' Trophy wins apiece. Among these multiple winners, Calgary, Dallas, Detroit, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Washington have won it in consecutive seasons.
If there are two or more teams tied for first in points in the League, then the NHL's standard tiebreaking procedure is applied, with the first tiebreaker being the team with the most regulation wins (that is, all games won except those won in overtime or in a shootout). During the shortened , both the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights finished tied for first with 82 points in 56 games, with Colorado winning the trophy since they had 35 regulation wins while Vegas had 30. From the through seasons, the first tiebreaker was most regulation and overtime wins. Before , the first tiebreaker was the most wins including both overtime and shootout wins. The most notable of the pre-2010–11 protocol is from the , where both the Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings finished tied first with 113 points, with the Sabres winning the Trophy since they had 53 wins, three more than Detroit, who had 50.
===Past trophies===
From 1937 to 1967, the same criterion now observed for winning the Presidents' Trophy was used to award the Prince of Wales Trophy. With the Modern Era expansion in the season and the creation of the West Division, the Wales Trophy was awarded to the team that finished in first place in the East Division during the regular season. However, no trophy was awarded to the team that finished with the best overall record in the entire League during this period, and no trophy at all was awarded based on the results of the regular season from the through seasons. A cash bonus of $350,000 was awarded to the winning team with the NHL's best regular season record during these years, to which the Presidents' Trophy was added in . The cash bonus is split amongst the players on the active roster of the winning team.
Factoring all NHL seasons prior to the introduction of the Presidents' Trophy, the Montreal Canadiens have finished first overall 21 times, the most times in League history (although this was most recently accomplished in , before the Trophy was introduced; since its inception, the Canadiens have been Presidents' runners-up three times, in , , and ). Detroit is second with 18 first-overall finishes.
==Playoff implications==
The Presidents' Trophy winner is normally guaranteed home-ice advantage throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs. This does not necessarily correlate to success in the playoffs, however. The Trophy has been awarded 36 times, but only eight of the winners have gone on to win the Stanley Cup in their respective years, leading to a popular superstition that the Trophy may be cursed. In addition, eight Presidents' Trophy winners have been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, with first-round upsets being common in the NHL compared to other major professional sports. 
NHL broadcaster Darren Eliot attributes the apparent lack of playoff success to the different style of competition compared to the regular season: instead of playing different teams every night, the goal is to advance through four best-of-seven playoff series. The Presidents' Trophy winner may have to go through other playoff clubs who might have a hotter goaltender, a better defensive team or other players that pose match-up problems. If the regular season champion's primary success was merely outscoring others, they may be out of luck facing goaltenders that can shut them out. The lack of playoff experience may have been to blame in the examples of the 1999–2000 St. Louis Blues and 2008–09 San Jose Sharks, as neither team had advanced past the second round for five or more seasons. Teams have often given up pursuit of finishing first in the League in order to avoid injuries and rest key players for the postseason.
Another example of the "curse" is the 2018–19 Tampa Bay Lightning, who were swept in the first round by the Wild Card Columbus Blue Jackets after a dominant season in which they tied the 1995–96 Detroit Red Wings' record for regular season wins, becoming the first Presidents' Trophy winner to suffer this fate. Adding to the ignominy was the Blue Jackets' previous lack of postseason success: their sweep of the Lightning was their first playoff series victory in franchise history, with only four previous playoff qualifications. Over the next three years, the Lightning did not win the Presidents' Trophy but nevertheless won two consecutive Stanley Cups before appearing in a third consecutive Stanley Cup Final.
The 1995–96 Red Wings could also be considered a "cursed" team, as their record-setting season was cut short by the newly-relocated Colorado Avalanche in the Conference Finals, sparking a particularly vicious rivalry between the two teams in subsequent seasons. 
A third example of the "curse" may be the 2022–23 Boston Bruins; after setting new records for single-season wins and points, the Bruins proceeded to lose in the first round in seven games to the Florida Panthers, the previous season's Presidents' Trophy winners, after having led the series three games to one. 
Ian Cooper, writing for the Toronto Star, noted that "of 11 Presidents' Trophy winners to lose in the first two rounds, seven came from divisions that were among the league's weaker half ... If a team dominates a weak division, its shortcomings should become apparent once it faces stiffer competition from the rest of the conference". Jonathan Weiss, writing for the Bleacher Report in 2010, also noted that of the teams between 1982 and 2009 that led the League in points during the regular season, 12 of them (45 per cent) reached the Cup Finals, while of the other 405 teams during that same time period, only 42 (10 per cent) advanced to the final round.
Only three times in the history of the Presidents' Trophy has a team missed the playoffs the season after winning the award: the New York Rangers, who won the Trophy in the season and missed the playoffs in (and then rebounded to win both the Presidents' Trophy and Stanley Cup in ); the Buffalo Sabres, who won the Trophy in the season and missed the playoffs in (in part because of a debacle in which the team lost both of its top stars to free agency); and the Boston Bruins, who won the Trophy in the season and missed the playoffs in despite having a winning record.
==Winners==
upright|Ottawa Senators Presidents' Trophy Banner from the 2002–03 season|thumb
Bold Team with the most points ever accumulated in a season during the trophy's existence.
Year 	Winner 	Points 	Margin 	 	Playoff result
 	Edmonton Oilers 	119 	9 	1 	Lost Division Finals (CGY)
 	Edmonton Oilers 	106 	6 	2 	Won Stanley Cup
 	Calgary Flames 	105 	2 	1 	Lost Division Finals (EDM)
 	Calgary Flames 	117 	2 	2 	Won Stanley Cup
 	Boston Bruins 	101 	2 	1 	Lost Stanley Cup Finals (EDM)
 	Chicago Blackhawks 	106 	1 	1 	Lost Division Semifinals (MNS)
 	New York Rangers 	105 	7 	1 	Lost Division Finals (PIT)
 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	119 	10 	1 	Lost Division Finals (NYI)
 	New York Rangers 	112 	6 	2 	Won Stanley Cup
 	Detroit Red Wings 	070Only 48 games were played in the 1994–95 season due to a lockout. Detroit's 70 points in 48 games extrapolates to 122 points in 84 games, which was the standard season length at the time. 	5 	1 	Lost Stanley Cup Finals (NJD)
 	Detroit Red Wings 	131 	27 	2 	Lost Conference Finals (COL)
 	Colorado Avalanche 	107 	3 	1 	Lost Conference Finals (DET)
 	Dallas Stars 	109 	2 	1 	Lost Conference Finals (DET)
 	Dallas Stars 	114 	9 	2 	Won Stanley Cup
 	St. Louis Blues 	114 	6 	1 	Lost Conference Quarterfinals (SJS)
 	Colorado Avalanche 	118 	7 	2 	Won Stanley Cup
 	Detroit Red Wings 	116 	15 	3 	Won Stanley Cup
 	Ottawa Senators 	113 	2 	1 	Lost Conference Finals (NJD)
 	Detroit Red Wings 	109 	3 	4 	Lost Conference Semifinals (CGY)
 	Season cancelled due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout	Season cancelled due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout 	Season cancelled due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout	Season cancelled due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout	Season cancelled due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout
 	Detroit Red Wings 	124 	11 	5 	Lost Conference Quarterfinals (EDM)
 	Buffalo Sabres 	113 	0 (3 wins) 	1 	Lost Conference Finals (OTT)
 	Detroit Red Wings 	115 	7 	6 	Won Stanley Cup
 	San Jose Sharks 	117 	1 	1 	Lost Conference Quarterfinals (ANA)
 	Washington Capitals 	121 	8 	1 	Lost Conference Quarterfinals (MTL)
 	Vancouver Canucks 	117 	10 	1 	Lost Stanley Cup Finals (BOS)
 	Vancouver Canucks 	111 	2 	2 	Lost Conference Quarterfinals (LAK)
 	Chicago Blackhawks 	77Only 48 games were played in the 2012–13 season due to a lockout. Chicago's 77 points in 48 games extrapolates to 132 points in an 82-game season; this number would have eclipsed Detroit's record by one, and would have tied the record-high of points held by the 1976–77 Montreal Canadiens (the trophy did not exist at the time, also, Montreal accomplished the feat in only 80 games and without the benefit of current overtime rules that award one point to teams losing in overtime or shootouts).	5 	2 	Won Stanley Cup
 	Boston Bruins 	117 	1 	2 	Lost Second Round (MTL)
 	New York Rangers 	113 	3 	3 	Lost Conference Finals (TBL)
 	Washington Capitals 	120 	11 	2 	Lost Second Round (PIT)
 	Washington Capitals 	118 	7 	3 	Lost Second Round (PIT)
 	Nashville Predators 	117 	3 	1 	Lost Second Round (WPG)
 	Tampa Bay Lightning 	128 	21 	1 	Lost First Round (CBJ)
2019–20	Boston Bruins 	100Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bruins only played 70 games when the 2019–20 season regular season was curtailed. Under the special 2020 playoff format that was then conducted, with a round-robin tournament for the top four teams in each conference, the Bruins were not guaranteed home-ice advantage in all postseason rounds. Boston's 100 points in 70 games extrapolates to 117 points in an 82-game regular season. 	6 	3 	Lost Second Round (TBL)
2020–21	Colorado Avalanche 	82Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020–21 NHL season was shortened to 56 games. Colorado's 82 points in 56 games extrapolates to 120 points in an 82-game season. 	0 (5 regulation wins) 	3 	Lost Second Round (VGK)
2021–22	Florida Panthers 	122 	3 	1 	Lost Second Round (TBL)
2022–23	Boston Bruins 	135 	22 	4 	Lost First Round (FLA)
==Earlier best records==
For reference, the following are teams that finished with the best records in the NHL for each season between and .
===NHL vs. PCHA/WCHL/WHL Stanley Cup era (1917–1926)===
Prior to 1926–27, the Stanley Cup was then awarded as a "World Series" trophy between the champions of the NHL and a rival league (first the Pacific Coast Hockey Association, then the Western Canada Hockey League). Instead, the NHL championship trophy during this era was the O'Brien Trophy.
From 1917–18 to , the NHL season was split, requiring separate standings, with a single playoff series between the winner of the first half of the season and the winner of the second half of the season.
Year	Winner 	PointsFor the 1917–18 to 1920–21 seasons, this figure is the sum of the points accumulated during both halves of the season.	Playoff Result
 	Toronto Hockey Club 	26 	NHL champions*, won Stanley Cup
 	Ottawa Senators 	24 	Lost NHL Championship (MTL)^
 	Ottawa Senators 	38 	NHL champions, won Stanley Cup†
 	Toronto St. Patricks	30 	Lost NHL Championship (SEN)^
 	Ottawa Senators 	30 	Lost NHL Championship (TSP)^
 	Ottawa Senators 	29 	NHL champions, won Stanley Cup†
 	Ottawa Senators 	32 	Lost NHL Championship (MTL)^
 	Hamilton Tigers 	39 	Suspended from playoffsA labour dispute between the Hamilton Tigers' owner and its players forced the team to be suspended from the playoffs.
 	Ottawa Senators 	52 	Lost NHL Final Round (MMR)^
===NHL takes control of the Stanley Cup (since 1927)===
After the 1925–26 season, the NHL became the only league left competing for the Stanley Cup. The Stanley Cup thus became the de facto NHL championship trophy, though the league did not take formal control of the trophy until 1947.
 
The Prince of Wales Trophy was awarded from to 1967 for the entire league regular season.
Year	Winner 	PointsNotwithstanding seasons shortened by labour or other similar issues, the regular season consisted of 44 games from to seasons, 48 games from to , 50 games from to , 60 games from to , 70 games from to , 74 games from to , 76 games during the season, 78 games from to , and 80 games from to . The and seasons had 84 games, with two games played at neutral sites; neutral-site games were eliminated for the season.	Playoff Result
 	Ottawa Senators 	64 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Montreal Canadiens 	59 	Lost semifinals (MMR)
 	Montreal Canadiens 	59 	Lost semifinals (BOS)
 	Boston Bruins 	77 	Lost Stanley Cup Finals^ (MTL)
 	Boston Bruins 	62 	Lost semifinals (MTL)
 	Montreal Canadiens 	57 	Lost semifinals (NYR)
 	Boston Bruins 	58 	Lost semifinals (TOR)
 	Toronto Maple Leafs	61 	Lost semifinals (DET)
 	Toronto Maple Leafs	64 	Lost Stanley Cup Finals^ (MMR)
 	Detroit Red Wings 	56 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Detroit Red Wings 	59 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Boston Bruins 	67 	Lost semifinals (TOR)
 	Boston Bruins 	74 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Boston Bruins 	67 	Lost semifinals (NYR)
 	Boston Bruins 	67 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	New York Rangers 	60 	Lost semifinals (TOR)
 	Detroit Red Wings 	61 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Montreal Canadiens 	83 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Montreal Canadiens 	80 	Lost semifinals# (TOR)
 	Montreal Canadiens 	61 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Montreal Canadiens 	78 	Lost Stanley Cup Finals^ (TOR)
 	Toronto Maple Leafs	77 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Detroit Red Wings 	75 	Lost Stanley Cup Finals^ (TOR)
 	Detroit Red Wings 	88 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Detroit Red Wings 	101 	Lost semifinals# (MTL)
 	Detroit Red Wings 	100 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Detroit Red Wings 	90 	Lost semifinals# (BOS)
 	Detroit Red Wings 	88 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Detroit Red Wings 	95 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Montreal Canadiens 	100 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Detroit Red Wings 	88 	Lost semifinals# (BOS)
 	Montreal Canadiens 	96 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Montreal Canadiens 	91 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Montreal Canadiens 	92 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Montreal Canadiens 	92 	Lost semifinals# (CHI)
 	Montreal Canadiens 	98 	Lost semifinals# (CHI)
 	Toronto Maple Leafs	82 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Montreal Canadiens 	85 	Lost semifinals# (TOR)
 	Detroit Red Wings 	87 	Lost semifinals# (CHI)
 	Montreal Canadiens 	90 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Chicago Black Hawks	94 	Lost semifinals# (TOR)
 	Montreal Canadiens 	94 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Montreal Canadiens 	103 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Chicago Black Hawks	99 	Lost semifinals (BOS)
 	Boston Bruins 	121 	Lost quarterfinals# (MTL)
 	Boston Bruins 	119 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Montreal Canadiens 	120 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Boston Bruins 	113 	Lost Stanley Cup Finals^ (PHI)
 	Philadelphia Flyers	113 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Montreal Canadiens 	127 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Montreal Canadiens 	132 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Montreal Canadiens 	129 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	New York Islanders 	116 	Lost semifinals (NYR)
 	Philadelphia Flyers	116 	Lost Stanley Cup Finals^ (NYI)
 	New York Islanders 	110 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	New York Islanders 	118 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Boston Bruins 	110 	Lost Conference Finals (NYI)
 	Edmonton Oilers 	119 	Won Stanley Cup*
 	Philadelphia Flyers	113 	Lost Stanley Cup Finals^ (EDM)
== Records ==
=== Presidents' Trophy winners ===
Team 	Winners	Year(s) won
Detroit Red Wings 	6 	1994–95, 1995–96, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2007–08
Boston Bruins 	4 	1989–90, 2013–14, 2019–20, 2022–23
New York Rangers 	3 	1991–92, 1993–94, 2014–15
Colorado Avalanche 	3 	1996–97, 2000–01, 2020–21
Washington Capitals	3 	2009–10, 2015–16, 2016–17
Edmonton Oilers 	2 	1985–86, 1986–87
Calgary Flames 	2 	1987–88, 1988–89
Chicago Blackhawks 	2 	1990–91, 2012–13
Dallas Stars 	2 	1997–98, 1998–99
Vancouver Canucks 	2 	2010–11, 2011–12
Pittsburgh Penguins	1 	1992–93
St. Louis Blues 	1 	1999–2000
Ottawa Senators 	1 	2002–03
Buffalo Sabres 	1 	2006–07
San Jose Sharks 	1 	2008–09
Nashville Predators	1 	2017–18
Tampa Bay Lightning	1 	2018–19
Florida Panthers 	1 	2021–22
=== Combined pre-trophy/trophy era best records===
Team 	Best record	Year(s) won
Montreal Canadiens 	21 	1927–28, 1928–29, 1931–32, 1943–44, 1944–45, 1945–46, 1946–47, 1955–56, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1963–64, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78
Detroit Red Wings 	18 	1935–36, 1936–37, 1942–43, 1948–49, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1964–65, 1994–95, 1995–96, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2007–08
Boston Bruins 	15 	1929–30, 1930–31, 1932–33, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1973–74, 1982–83, 1989–90, 2013–14, 2019–20, 2022–23
Ottawa Senators (1883–1934) 	7 	1918–19, 1919–20, 1921–22, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1925–26, 1926–27
Toronto Hockey Club/St. Patricks/Maple Leafs	6 	1917–18, 1920–21, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1947–48, 1962–63
New York Rangers 	4 	1941–42, 1991–92, 1993–94, 2014–15
Chicago Blackhawks 	4 	1966–67, 1969–70, 1990–91, 2012–13
Philadelphia Flyers 	3 	1974–75, 1979–80, 1984–85
New York Islanders 	3 	1978–79, 1980–81, 1981–82
Edmonton Oilers 	3 	1983–84, 1985–86, 1986–87
Colorado Avalanche 	3 	1996–97, 2000–01, 2020–21
Washington Capitals 	3 	2009–10, 2015–16, 2016–17
Calgary Flames 	2 	1987–88, 1988–89
Dallas Stars 	2 	1997–98, 1998–99
Vancouver Canucks 	2 	2010–11, 2011–12
Hamilton Tigers 	1 	1924–25
Pittsburgh Penguins 	1 	1992–93
St. Louis Blues 	1 	1999–2000
Ottawa Senators 	1 	2002–03
Buffalo Sabres 	1 	2006–07
San Jose Sharks 	1 	2008–09
Nashville Predators 	1 	2017–18
Tampa Bay Lightning 	1 	2018–19
Florida Panthers 	1 	2021–22
* Defunct teams in italics.
==See also==
* Continental Cup, a KHL trophy having the same function as the Presidents' Trophy.
* Maurice Podoloff Trophy, an NBA trophy having the same function as the Presidents' Trophy.
* Supporters' Shield, an MLS trophy having the same function as the Presidents' Trophy.
==References==
;General
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;Specific
 
Category:National Hockey League trophies and awards