For many NHL fans and bettors checking the latest odds from Ozoon, a website that offers sports betting in Canada, the Presidents’ Trophy has become more of a warning sign than a promise of postseason glory. Over the past decade, the league’s best regular-season team has almost never finished the job in June. Since the 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks converted their top record into a championship, every other winner has fallen short.
The trend has turned what should be the ultimate symbol of dominance into a statistic of frustration. In the last 20 seasons, only five Presidents’ Trophy winners have advanced past the second round of the playoffs. Detroit and Chicago remain the only ones in that span to capture both the Trophy and the Cup in the same season. Each year, fans wonder whether the curse is real or simply the weight of expectations catching up with elite teams under pressure.
Buffalo Sabres, 2006-07
Buffalo’s 2006-07 campaign was explosive from start to finish. The Sabres finished 53-22-7 for 113 points, leading the league in goals scored. Daniel Briere and Chris Drury anchored a forward group stacked with scoring and speed. Buffalo entered the playoffs as a top contender and handled the New York Islanders and Rangers with relative ease.
Then came Ottawa. The Senators ended Buffalo’s run in five games in the Eastern Conference Final, exposing defensive lapses that proved costly. That summer, the departures of Briere and Drury in free agency effectively shut the team’s window as a Cup threat. The Sabres haven’t won another playoff series since that season.
Detroit Red Wings, 2007-08
The 2007-08 Red Wings are the gold standard for teams that broke the curse. Detroit finished with 115 points and looked locked in from the opening week. Veteran goalie Dominik Hasek started the playoffs but was replaced early by Chris Osgood, whose steady performance became pivotal. The Red Wings rolled through Nashville, Colorado, and Dallas to reach the Stanley Cup Final.
Johan Franzen elevated his play in clutch moments, and Henrik Zetterberg took home the Conn Smythe Trophy. Detroit defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games, clinching its 11th Stanley Cup and becoming the last dominant team to truly capitalize on its regular-season success.
Vancouver Canucks, 2010-11
The 2010-11 Canucks owned the best record by a wide margin, with balanced scoring and excellent goaltending from Roberto Luongo and Cory Schneider. Daniel Sedin won the Hart Trophy, and Ryan Kesler added the Selke. Vancouver looked poised to end Canada’s Cup drought.
The playoffs began with high drama. Chicago nearly erased a 3-0 deficit, but Alex Burrows saved the Canucks in Game 7 overtime. Vancouver beat Nashville and San Jose to reach the Final, where they led Boston three games to two. The ending was brutal — the Bruins stormed back to win the last two games, including a 4-0 shutout in Vancouver. The Canucks have not reached the Final since.
Chicago Blackhawks, 2012-13
The 2012-13 Blackhawks stand alone as the last Presidents’ Trophy winner to win the Cup. In a shortened 48-game season, Chicago dominated from the start with a 21-0-3 streak. Led by Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Duncan Keith, they looked nearly unbeatable.
Chicago cruised past Minnesota, rallied from 3-1 down to beat Detroit, and took out Los Angeles in five. In the Final against Boston, the Blackhawks produced one of hockey’s most memorable finishes — two goals just 17 seconds apart in the closing minute of Game 6. That comeback sealed their second title in four seasons and ended any talk of a curse, at least temporarily.
New York Rangers, 2014-15 And 2023-24
The Rangers enjoyed strong regular seasons in both Presidents’ Trophy years but hit the playoff wall each time. In 2014-15, New York set franchise records for wins and road victories. After trailing Washington 3-1, they battled back to win the series in seven. Their run stopped short in the Conference Final against Tampa Bay, losing in seven tight games.
After several disappointing Trophy winners across the league, the Rangers reclaimed the title in 2023-24 behind elite performances from Artemi Panarin and Igor Shesterkin. Panarin scored 49 goals as New York surged past Carolina to reach another Conference Final. There, Florida’s structured defense proved too much. The Rangers dropped three one-goal games and fell in six, extending their Stanley Cup drought to three decades.
A Trophy That Rarely Leads To The Cup
Since its creation in 1985-86, only eight teams have turned the Presidents’ Trophy into a championship. That’s a conversion rate barely above 20 percent. In the salary-cap era, the balance across teams makes dominance harder to sustain. Tampa Bay’s record-setting 62-win season ended in a stunning sweep in 2019. Boston’s historic 65-win campaign in 2023 collapsed after blowing a 3-1 first-round lead against Florida.
Regular-season greatness guarantees nothing in the chaos of playoff hockey. The Presidents’ Trophy remains a mark of excellence, but for most teams, it’s become a reminder that the path from April to June requires far more than finishing first.