The Panthers fell to the Lightning on Monday night, cutting their bid for a Stanley Cup short with a second-round sweep. With the result, it means that for the ninth consecutive season, the winner of the Presidents’ Trophy and winner of the Stanley Cup will not be the same club.
Florida ended the regular season with a record of 58-18-6, earning 122 points in the standings and beating the Avalanche for the top spot in the league. The club went 23-5-1 in the final two months of the season, with a 13-game winning streak included in that run.
However their regular season success did not translate over into the postseason. The Panthers became the latest team to fall to the Presidents’ Trophy curse, continuing a trend of teams falling to get far into the postseason after dominating in the regular season.
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Who are the past winners of the Presidents’ Trophy?
The Presidents’ Trophy, awarded to the team with the best regular season record, was first introduced in 1985.
It wasn’t a curse at first. Seven of the first 17 teams to win the award went on to also capture the Stanley Cup, and nine of the 17 at least made the Stanley Cup finals.
However, since the NHL lockout, just two teams have earned both honors and just three clubs have made it to at least the finals. The Blackhawks were the last team to win the Presidents’ Trophy and the Stanley Cup. Since then, no Presidents’ Trophy winner has even advanced to the conference finals.
Out of the 36 winners, seven of those teams failed to win a postseason series, getting bounced in the first round of the postseason.
