Presidents’ Trophy curse: Bruins’ collapse extends Stanley Cup drought for regular-season champions

Winning the Stanley Cup is a tall task for every team — even for the Presidents’ Trophy winner. But of late, it seems like the Presidents’ Trophy winners are cursed. The 2022-23 Boston Bruins became the latest victims on Sunday night.

Boston led their opening round series vs. the Panthers, 3-1, and had three separate chances to put Florida to bed. But they couldn’t close the door. In Game 7 the Panthers scored late in the third period to tie the game at 3-3 and then scored first in overtime to end a truly historic Boston season.

The 2022-23 Bruins set the NHL record for wins and points in a regular season. They are the Presidents’ Trophy winner to end all Presidents’ Trophy winners until further notice. Yet they couldn’t get out of the first round of the postseason, let alone win the Stanley Cup.

The Bruins are now the seventh Presidents’ Trophy winner to lose in the first round of the playoffs since 2000. The six others are:

The Presidents’ Trophy was first awarded to the best regular season team in 1985-86, and in the years since, it has garnered an unsavory reputation. The Presidents’ Trophy had been handed out 37 times, and only eight of those teams went on to win the Stanley Cup. The 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks were the last team to win the Presidents’ Trophy victory and the Stanley Cup in the same season.

Since then, the winners have all been tripped up on their path to glory, often before they even reach the conference finals:

Last 10 Presidents’ Trophy winners

The legend of the Presidents’ Trophy curse hasn’t always been as prevalent as it is today, however. There have been runs of success for the winners in the past. Two of the first four teams to earn the Presidents’ Trophy hoisted the Cup, and three of the four winners from 1998-99 to 2001-02 were crowned NHL champions.

In the award’s first 23 years of existence, seven winners went on to win the Stanley Cup, and two more teams reached the Stanley Cup Final. That isn’t exactly curse-worthy given the parity in the NHL, but the recent history of the Presidents’ Trophy has been quite ugly.

Since the 2007-08 season, only one Presidents’ Trophy winner has won the Cup, and just one more team reached the Cup Final. From 2008-2009 to 2011-2012, three of the four Presidents’ Trophy winners were eliminated in the first round. The only exception was the 2010-11 Vancouver Canucks, who lost to the Bruins in the Cup Final. We’ll have to wait til next year to see if this current drought can be ended.