Can this year’s President Trophy winner, Washington Capitals, avoid the “curse”?
Since the President Trophy was awarded for the first time at the end of the 1985-1986 season, the trophy has been awarded 24 times to 14 different teams. The most recent recipients of the trophy are the Capitals, whom finished with 121 points, guaranteeing them home-ice advantage in all four rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs, providing they advance that far. However, only seven of the entire Presidents’ Trophy winners have gone on to win the Stanley Cup in their respective years. Some may argue that teams have often given up pursuit of finishing first in the league in order to avoid injuries and rest key players for the postseason. Other teams, such as the 1999-2000 St. Louis Blues and the aforementioned 2008-2009 San Jose Sharks, whom haven’t advanced past the second round for five or more seasons, have a lack of playoff experience. The Capitals have former Hart and Vezina Trophy winner Jose Theodore in net, who finished with a 30-7-7 record with a 2.81 goals-against average and .911
