44 replies to this topic

[MCleveland89]

Do we even have room? The rafters are getting pretty full.

[lookalive07]

Actually a 1 in 4 chance is pretty significant considering 16 teams make it into the postseason

It's actually a lot less of a chance than that. Just because 7 out of 25 teams since its induction have won the President's Trophy have also won the Stanley Cup has nothing to do with the actual percentage that that particular team would win the playoffs that year. Since it's a lot of math and since each series has a number of different outcomes in terms of probability, I won't explain it all, but just trust me when I say that it is definitely not a little more than a 1 in 4 chance that a team is going to win the Stanley Cup just based on history of who has won both in a single season.

Sorry, nerd moment for the night. I get where you are coming from though. Based on history, it does indicate that a little over 25% of the teams that won the President's Trophy have also won the Cup that season, but it's not a cause and effect thing in terms of the playoff format.

[SouthernWingsFan]

If you want to look at some kind of correlation if teams who win Presidents Trophies also win the Stanley Cup, I don't think that it's that important. Not trying to say/imply that the trophy is a jinx, or that it is more important than it is in this sense.

So, given that and most years, I think it's a nice goal to have and something to strive for, but not of the utmost importance in the world.

However, given this year that the division the Wings are in 4 of the 5 teams simply would not lose at most points in the season (now 3 of 5) and the Wings dominance at home most this season, I'd say it is very important in this season. At worst getting one of the top 3 seeds in the league.

[55fan]

It gives you something shiny for one of the Alternate Captains to drive down Woodward with.

If you don't win the Cup, nothing else matters.

[xtrememachine1]

In a somewhat related topic to this, I noticed Detroit is 4th in the West now with St Louis taking our spot at the top of the division. Anyone know how that worked out? We have the same exact number of points, more wins, more goals for and we've beaten them 3 out of 5 games this year. How do they come out on top in the tie breaker?

[sandyeggo wingnut]

In a somewhat related topic to this, I noticed Detroit is 4th in the West now with St Louis taking our spot at the top of the division. Anyone know how that worked out? We have the same exact number of points, more wins, more goals for and we've beaten them 3 out of 5 games this year. How do they come out on top in the tie breaker?

The first tiebreaker is regulation (edit: or overtime...ie non shootout) wins, the blues have one more (36 to 35) than the Wings.

Edited by sandyeggo wingnut, 01 March 2012 - 08:56 AM.

[toby91_ca]

Okay, I would guess that the pride and bragging rights from winning it mean absolutely nothing to anyway.

That said, this year, like no other, it may be more important for the Wings due to their crazy difference in home vs. road record.

The other thing to consider though, a team could have home ice advantage all through the playoffs without actually winning the PT. Winning the PT would guarantee that though.

[akustyk]

I'm curious for opinions on how much value should be placed on chasing the presidents trophy for the top three/four teams? Both from a personal perspective (point of pride, bragging rights etc..) and from a team perspective for real advantage right down to the SCF?

call me a spoiled Wings fan, but to me it only matters as far as it gives the home ice advantage and chance to avoid better teams in earlier rounds. but personally I'd rather see Wings finish like 2nd or 3rd to still avoid quality competition but also to not run into a hot team that clinched playoff spot after going very hot at the end of the season. read: Ducks or Oilers trauma.

Obviously home ice advantage is nothing to sneeze at but you can have that for most of yer series just by finishing high in your conference but, if yer team is in the running for the Presidents Trophy and they have only five games left in the regular season, do you want/expect them to push hard for it or rest up instead for the start of the playoffs?

nope. I'd rather see the team rest veterans, give'm a day off to enjoy with family. what's even more important: steer clear from any chance of freak injury right before playoffs, especially as those "miraculously" happen when playing against potential playoff competition.

in short: absolutely not. I'd rather have healthy, rested team entering the playoffs against better opponent, than top berth with incomplete roster.

[haroldsnepsts]

As many have said, home ice advantage matters. President's trophy itself doesn't mean much.

[GMRwings1983]

Did the Wings ever win the Cup with a horrible road playoff record?

I mean, you're not likely to win every one of your home games in the postseason. It's too hard and puts too much pressure on you. You have to win on the road whether you have home ice or not.

Honestly, I've never watched a playoff series where the winner/loser was decided by home ice. Closest was the 2003 Finals, and New Jersey was just a flat out better team and lost two of the road games in OT.

Edited by GMRwings1983, 01 March 2012 - 12:06 PM.

[toby91_ca]

Did the Wings ever win the Cup with a horrible road playoff record?

I

Yes. I don't know (or haven't bothered to dig through records) from back in the 30s, 40s and 50s, but their record was pretty bad in 97 and 98:

1997 - 18-14-9
1998 - 19-15-7

Edit....actually, those records aren't as bad as I thought as the 9 and the 7 are ties, not losses as they would appear today.

Edited by toby91_ca, 01 March 2012 - 12:24 PM.

[rrasco]

In a somewhat related topic to this, I noticed Detroit is 4th in the West now with St Louis taking our spot at the top of the division. Anyone know how that worked out? We have the same exact number of points, more wins, more goals for and we've beaten them 3 out of 5 games this year. How do they come out on top in the tie breaker?

The first tiebreaker is regulation (edit: or overtime...ie non shootout) wins, the blues have one more (36 to 35) than the Wings.

As Sandyeggo said, it's determined by regulation overtime wins; otherwise referred to as ROW. This is to essentially declare that SO wins are not real wins, but you still get 2 points for them. Which is why SO wins suck.

[Crymson]

It's always neat to know your team did the best in the regular season but in the long run it doesn't matter (27% of the teams winning the PT also win the Cup). It may be more important to a team that is great at home and iffy on the road (Wings) but it's definitely not as big of a deal as some make it out to be.

Look at the 05-06 Wings.

Or the '08-'09 Sharks, ha ha ha.

If Crosby ever returns from brain surgery, he'll piss on that President's trophy like he did last time.

Which time are you referring to?

[cusimano_brothers]

The Club has won the Stanley Cup three times with an Away Games Points Percentage of less than 0.500: 1935-36, 1942-43 and 1953-54. The lowest was 1953-54, 0.471.

[GMRwings1983]

Yes. I don't know (or haven't bothered to dig through records) from back in the 30s, 40s and 50s, but their record was pretty bad in 97 and 98:

1997 - 18-14-9
1998 - 19-15-7

Edit....actually, those records aren't as bad as I thought as the 9 and the 7 are ties, not losses as they would appear today.

I meant a horrible road playoff record.

Or the '08-'09 Sharks, ha ha ha.



Which time are you referring to?

Yeah, I guess we didn't win the President's trophy in 2009, but we still had home ice over the Pens. Didn't seem to matter at the end of the day.

The Club has won the Stanley Cup three times with an Away Games Points Percentage of less than 0.500: 1935-36, 1942-43 and 1953-54. The lowest was 1953-54, 0.471.

Yeah, I was looking more at playoff road records. You have to win big playoff games on the road to win the Cup.

All the Cup winning years I saw, the Wings had to win big playoff games on the road and did. That was my point about home ice advantage not being that important.

[LeonardSankar]

Lets face it if the Wings don't have home ice for the Western playoffs they won't see the Finals so finishing 4th where I think they finish 2nd will not get the job done as they need home ice. As for the Finals the only team I fear in the East is the Penguins as I think the Wings can take either the Rangers or Bruins.

[wolverine1817]

Um, it's true that the Wings aren't that great on the road this year, but am I the only one who's not really worried about it for the playoffs? I mean, it's the playoffs, not just a normal regular season game. I guess I'm just confident that they'll stop skating around with no effort most of the time.

[aMonster]

Home ice should also translate into quite a bit more rest from travel, which isn't nothing but significant if home ice is Vancouver or San Jose..

[GMRwings1983]

Well, the Wings traveled out west in 1997, 1998 and 2002, yet that didn't stop them from winning the Cup. If a team is motivated and deserving to win the Cup, they will, regardless of travel.

We swept Phoenix last year, but still lost the first 3 to San Jose, despite being the more rested team.

[MabusIncarnate]

The winners of the President's trophy don't get to meet the president, the Stanley Cup Champs do. I rest my case.

Do we even have room? The rafters are getting pretty full.

We can donate a banner to Nashville so their new "Stanley Cup Champs" banner can at least have some point of reference.