For as many days as the Winnipeg Jets have resided atop the Central Division, led the Western Conference and hovered around first place in the entire National Hockey League standings this season, there has been very little conversation about the President’s Trophy — and that is likely by design.
Now, to be fair, finishing first overall is an outstanding achievement and one that truly should be recognized, respected and honoured.
After all, the 82-game NHL season is a grind, replete with long travel, inconsistent sleep and a cadence of games that offers few breaks. The team that powers through all of the schedule’s rigours and finishes with the best record and most points should feel a sense of accomplishment – which is why they earn the President’s Trophy.
But there is a stigma around the award, as only eight teams since its creation in the mid-1980s have won it and then gone on to win the Stanley Cup in the same season.
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In fact, the last Canadian team to win the President’s Trophy was the Vancouver Canucks, who did it in consecutive years in 2011 and 2012, no less. But as a franchise, they’re still waiting to hang their first Stanley Cup banner.
And based on the Jets’ overtime win over the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night to pull within a single point of first overall in the NHL, the President’s Trophy discussion is likely going to continue or even heat up around the team’s 10 remaining games — whether they like it or not.
It’s a conflicting situation, for sure, but one the Jets need to embrace, knowing how unique a President’s Trophy would be to cap off a potentially franchise-best regular season.
And if nothing else follows favourably into the spring and early summer, a President’s Trophy banner draped from the rafters of Canada Life Centre in the years ahead would still make for a great conversation piece.
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