While the Presidents’ Trophy has become something of a joke to hockey fans in recent years, it is still something the Jets, and their fans, should take some pride in.
Especially given the lack of success throughout the franchise’s history.
The argument against the Presidents’ Trophy is that it’s not the trophy anybody in hockey wants or is playing for. The Stanley Cup is the ultimate prize and the trophy that is always the focus. And that is fair. It is, after all, the single biggest goal for every team and player.
The Presidents’ Trophy has also not produced a Stanley Cup winner since the 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks, and that came in a lockout shortened 48-game season. You have to go back to the 2007-08 season with the Detroit Red Wings to find the last time a regular season champion actually won the Stanley Cup. Those are the only two instances of it happening in the salary cap era.
So there is some poor history there over the past two decades.
Even though it has been 12 years since the Presidents’ Trophy team won the cup, it is also worth pointing out that in the 37 years the NHL has handed out the award teams that have won it have gone on to win the Stanley Cup eight times. That is more than any other seed in the Nos. 2-16 spots.
But none of that should matter when you look at the accomplishment for what it is, which is the acknowledgement that you were the best team in the league over a full 82-game schedule. There is a lot to be said for that, and it shouldn’t be a joke or something that is just tossed aside.
Especially for a team like Winnipeg that has never won anything in its history.
The franchise entered the NHL during the 1999-00 season as the Atlanta Thrashers, and then relocated to Winnipeg for the 2011-12 season. In all of that time, through both cities, the only sort of banner the franchise could ever claim for itself was one Southeast Division title (a division that no longer exists) during the 2006-07 season.
That is it. There has never been a conference championship and no Stanley Cup Final appearance. No championships. No prior Presidents’ Trophy. Nothing.
The franchise has been mostly irrelevant and mediocre for two-and-a-half decades.
This is finally a real, tangible accomplishment and should be treated as such. You get a trophy for it. It is banner worthy. It should be celebrated. Even if it is not the trophy everybody is playing for, and even if prior winners of it have not always found playoff success.
