The Vancouver Canucks won the President's Trophy as the best team in the regular season for the 2011-2012 season. Then the sports betting sites watched as the Canucks got knocked out of the playoffs in the first round. The Canucks had also won the President's Trophy the season before and lost in the Stanley Cup Finals. With the way the NHL seems to be changing, online betting sites are starting to wonder if maybe the NHL regular season is just an 82-game exercise in futility. It seems that regular season success does not always equal playoff wins. The President's Trophy The President's Trophy is given to the team with the most points in the standings for the regular season. It was first handed out after the 1985-1986 season to the Edmonton Oilers. Since then, it has been handed out 25 more times. Each time the President's Trophy is awarded, the winning team becomes the price per head favorite to win the Stanley Cup. But the President's Trophy winner has only won the Stanley Cup seven times. Three more teams lost in the Stanley Cup finals. The President's Trophy has become one of those honors that teams try to avoid. It does not result in playoff success and, as of late, it has been associated with playoff futility. Top Seeds in the Conference Another misconception is that the division winners, who wind up being the top seeds in the playoffs for each conference, are automatically the favorites to win it all. If the New York Rangers are eliminated by the New Jersey Devils in the 2011-2012 Eastern Conference Finals, then the Stanley Cup Finals will feature the number eight seed from the Western Conference (Los Angeles Kings) against the number six seed from the Eastern Conference (New Jersey Devils). But a sportsbook review of the last two Stanley Cup Champions (Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks) shows two division winners that did not win the President's trophy. The 2009 champion Pittsburgh Penguins finished in second place in the Atlantic Division but were the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. History shows that teams who finish as one of the top four seeds in their conference, without being the President's Trophy winner, have the highest chance for success in the playoffs. Adjusting Your Betting System The NHL blog writers usually talk at length about the disconnect between regular season standing and playoff success. But the truth is that finishing as a division winner without winning the President's Trophy seems to give a team an edge when the playoffs begin. As you put your NHL betting system together, try to focus on the merits of a team and see how its strengths and weaknesses measure up to playoff opponents. Never mistake the ultimate prize for a regular season performance as the key to winning it all in the playoffs. As history has shown, winning the President's Trophy is not a guarantee that a team will find success in the post-season.
