The Winnipeg Jets, winner of the President’s Trophy for best regular season record, hope to pull off a rare feat: winning both that and the Stanley Cup.
The National Hockey League is coming off a banner regular season that for the first time included the Utah Hockey Club. Midway through the year, the entire sports world was treated to the thrilling 4 Nations Face-Off, which Canada won with an overtime victory over the United States. Finally, in the last full week of the season, Alexander Ovechkin broke the hallowed all-time goals record of Wayne Gretzky, a record that many thought would never be broken.
The playoffs begin this weekend, culminating in the Stanley Cup Finals in roughly two months. Here are some of the biggest postseason storylines.
Will the Presidents’ Trophy Curse End?
The Presidents’ Trophy is awarded to the team with the best overall record during the regular season, with the Winnipeg Jets (56-22-4) receiving the honor this year. However, fans of the Jets may wish they hadn’t won this trophy as
it’s been a dozen years since the team with the best record actually hoisted the Stanley Cup. In fact, none of the last 11 winners of the award even made the Stanley Cup Finals, with nine of the 11 getting bounced in the first or second round.
This is the first season that the Jets have won the Presidents’ Trophy, so it’s not a part of that recent history. Winnipeg is seeking its first Stanley Cup.
Win One for Canada
Canadian teams are on a 31-year drought when it comes to winning Lord Stanley’s Cup, with the Montreal Canadiens the last winners in 1993. Five of the seven NHL teams from up north qualified for the playoffs, marking the first time since 2017 that at least five Canadian squads are in a 16-team postseason.In addition to Winnipeg, the Atlantic Division-winning Toronto Maple Leafs are in the playoffs, as are last season’s Stanley Cup Finals runner-up, the Edmonton Oilers. Also, two Canadian squads earned Wild Card berths: the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens. Among the 16 teams in the playoffs, the four longest championship droughts all belong to Canadian teams, led by Toronto, which last won in 1967.
And Then There Were Three
There are 10 active NHL franchises that have never won the Stanley Cup, and three are in this year’s playoffs: Winnipeg, Ottawa and the Minnesota Wild. They are also among the 10 newest NHL franchises, but being a newcomer didn’t stop the Panthers, Ducks or Golden Knights from winning titles. Only Ottawa has even made the Stanley Cup Finals among the three looking to get off the schneid. Winnipeg could kill three birds with one stone by winning as it would take its name off this list, end Canada’s 31-year drought, and end the Presidents’ Trophy curse.
Another Milestone for Ovie?
Just two weeks ago, Alexander Ovechkin became the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer, and he’s also the active leader in postseason goals. He turned back the clock this season by averaging 2.3 goals per 60 minutes—the most of his career—so one can’t rule out his making more history this postseason. Ovechkin needs seven goals to reach 79 in his postseason career, which would move him into the
top 10 in NHL history, passing Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr. The most goals Ovie has ever scored in a single postseason is 15, and if he could somehow replicate that feat, he would be sixth all-time by the end of the playoffs.
Wild Cards Looking to Break Through
Each NHL conference has two Wild Card spots, and in the nine years that the league has used this format, at least one Wild Card has won a series in six years. Two Wild Cards have advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals (2017 Predators and 2023 Panthers), but no Wild Card has ever won the Stanley Cup. This year’s Wild Card teams are the Senators and Canadiens in the Eastern Conference and the Wild and Blues in the Western Conference.
A Record No One Wants
When Ryan Suter was drafted in 2003, this season’s No. 1 overall pick, Macklin Celebrini, was still three years away from being born. Suter has played in 1,526 regular-season NHL games, the most among active players, but he’s never won the championship. He’d love to erase his name from the list of most games without a ring among active players, but his Blues team is the last-seeded Wild Card team in the West, making it likely that if he returns next season, Suter will only move closer to Patrick Marleau’s NHL record of
1,779 regular-season games without touching Lord Stanley.
A Sixth for the Sunshine State
A Florida team has advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals in five straight years. The Tampa Bay Lightning went from 2020-22, winning two titles, and the Florida Panthers have gone each of the last two years, winning once. Both the Lightning and Panthers are in this year’s East bracket, though only one will have a chance to continue this run: They face off in the first round.
