Presidents' Trophy

From Free net encyclopedia

Image:Presidents' Trophy.jpgThe Presidents' Trophy is an award presented by the National Hockey League to the team which finished with the best record in the entire league during the regular season. It was introduced at the start of the 1985-86 NHL season by the league's Board of Governors. Prior to, the best team in the league was allowed to hang a banner stating "NHL League Champions". The winning team is also awarded 350,000 Canadian dollars, to be shared between the team and its players. Hockey is the only one of the four major North American team sports that presents a formal award of this type to its top regular-season finisher, although the National Basketball Association does provide bonus money to the team that finishes best overall.

The award is regarded as the second most prestigious a hockey team can win, albeit a distant second to the Stanley Cup. Winning the award is very difficult, perhaps even more difficult than winning the Stanley Cup, as it is a competition of the entire league, each of which play 82 games between October and April.

While less than half of all Presidents' Trophy winners have gone on to win the Stanley Cup, it remains the most likely position to produce the cup winner, as the Presidents' Trophy winner is guaranteed home-ice advantage in all four rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs, provided the team advances that far.

In the Original Six era, the same criteria now observed for winning the Presidents' Trophy was used to award the Prince of Wales Trophy. From 1967-68 through 1980-81, separate trophies were presented to the top regular-season finishers in each division (conference from the 1974-75 season onward) — the Prince of Wales Trophy for the first-place team in the Eastern Division (Wales Conference after 1974) and the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl for the corresponding team in the Western Division (Campbell Conference after 1974). 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 1981-82 season through the 1984-85 season, the Wales and Campbell trophies having been transferred to the playoff champions of those conferences in 1981-82; a cash bonus was given to each player on the team with the league's best regular-season record during these years, to which the Presidents' Trophy was added in 1985-86.

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Presidents' Trophy winners

Year	Team	Points	Playoffs
2006	Detroit Red Wings	124 Points
2005	no winner due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout
2004	Detroit Red Wings	109 Points	Lost in conference semi-finals (Flames)
2003	Ottawa Senators	113 Points	Lost in conference finals (Devils)
2002	Detroit Red Wings	116 Points	Won Stanley Cup
2001	Colorado Avalanche	118 Points	Won Stanley Cup
2000	St. Louis Blues	114 Points	Lost in conference quarter-finals (Sharks)
1999	Dallas Stars	114 Points	Won Stanley Cup
1998	Dallas Stars	109 Points	Lost in conference finals (Red Wings)
1997	Colorado Avalanche	107 Points	Lost in conference finals (Red Wings)
1996	Detroit Red Wings	131 Points	Lost in conference finals (Avalanche)
1995	Detroit Red Wings	70 Points	Lost in Stanley Cup finals (Devils)
1994	New York Rangers	112 Points	Won Stanley Cup
1993	Pittsburgh Penguins	119 Points	Lost in division finals (Islanders)
1992	New York Rangers	105 Points	Lost in division finals (Penguins)
1991	Chicago Blackhawks	106 Points	Lost in division semi-finals (North Stars)
1990	Boston Bruins	101 Points	Lost in Stanley Cup finals (Oilers)
1989	Calgary Flames	117 Points	Won Stanley Cup
1988	Calgary Flames	105 Points	Lost in division finals (Oilers)
1987	Edmonton Oilers	106 Points	Won Stanley Cup
1986	Edmonton Oilers	119 Points	Lost in division finals (Flames)