The chase for the president's trophy mid-season report

[Mitchy moo]

Sabres have 3 games in hand on the Ducks (who have some major injuries now) and a 6 point lead on the wings.

<TABLE class=tablehead cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=3><TBODY><TR class=stathead><TD colSpan=13>National Hockey League</TD></TR><TR class=colhead align=right><TD align=left width="18%"></TD><TD width="5%">GP (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/standings?season=2007&group=league&column=games&order=false)</TD><TD width="5%">W (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/standings?season=2007&group=league&column=wins&order=false)</TD><TD width="5%">L (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/standings?season=2007&group=league&column=losses&order=false)</TD><TD width="5%">OTL (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/standings?season=2007&group=league&column=OTLosses&order=false)</TD><TD width="5%">PTS (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/standings?season=2007&group=league&column=points&order=true)</TD><TD width="5%">GF (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/standings?season=2007&group=league&column=pointsFor&order=false)</TD><TD width="5%">GA (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/standings?season=2007&group=league&column=pointsAgainst&order=false)</TD><TD width="5%">PP% (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/standings?season=2007&group=league&column=powerPlayPct&order=false)</TD><TD width="5%">PK% (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/standings?season=2007&group=league&column=penaltyKillPct&order=false)</TD><TD width="10%">HOME (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/standings?season=2007&group=league&column=homeWinPercent&order=false)</TD><TD width="10%">AWAY (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/standings?season=2007&group=league&column=roadWinPercent&order=false)</TD><TD width="10%">L10</TD></TR><!-- jw sortColumns: points --><!-- jw sortOrder: true --><!-- sortCol: [Ljava.lang.String;@3c330a sortOrder[Z@3b0e10 --><TR class=oddrow align=right><TD align=left>Anaheim (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/clubhouse?team=ana)</TD><TD>42</TD><TD>28</TD><TD>8</TD><TD>6</TD><TD class=sortcell>62</TD><TD>144</TD><TD>102</TD><TD>22.3</TD><TD>84.9</TD><TD>15-2-4</TD><TD>13-6-2</TD><TD>5-5-0</TD></TR><TR class=evenrow align=right><TD align=left>Buffalo (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/clubhouse?team=buf)</TD><TD>39</TD><TD>29</TD><TD>7</TD><TD>3</TD><TD class=sortcell>61</TD><TD>155</TD><TD>109</TD><TD>16.9</TD><TD>83.9</TD><TD>14-4-2</TD><TD>15-3-1</TD><TD>7-2-1</TD></TR><TR class=oddrow align=right><TD align=left>Detroit (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/clubhouse?team=det)</TD><TD>39</TD><TD>25</TD><TD>9</TD><TD>5</TD><TD class=sortcell>55</TD><TD>117</TD><TD>85</TD><TD>15.2</TD><TD>83.2</TD><TD>14-3-3</TD><TD>11-6-2</TD><TD>8-1-1</TD></TR><TR class=evenrow align=right><TD align=left>Nashville (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/clubhouse?team=nsh)</TD><TD>40</TD><TD>26</TD><TD>11</TD><TD>3</TD><TD class=sortcell>55</TD><TD>133</TD><TD>104</TD><TD>18.4</TD><TD>85.0</TD><TD>12-3-3</TD><TD>14-8-0</TD><TD>7-3-0</TD></TR><TR class=oddrow align=right><TD align=left>Atlanta (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/clubhouse?team=atl)</TD><TD>42</TD><TD>24</TD><TD>12</TD><TD>6</TD><TD class=sortcell>54</TD><TD>131</TD><TD>126</TD><TD>17.7</TD><TD>79.6</TD><TD>11-5-3</TD><TD>13-7-3</TD><TD>6-3-1</TD></TR><TR class=evenrow align=right><TD align=left>San Jose (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/clubhouse?team=san)</TD><TD>40</TD><TD>26</TD><TD>14</TD><TD>0</TD><TD class=sortcell>52</TD><TD>116</TD><TD>94</TD><TD>22.4</TD><TD>84.6</TD><TD>13-7-0</TD><TD>13-7-0</TD><TD>5-5-0</TD></TR><TR class=oddrow align=right><TD align=left>Montreal (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/clubhouse?team=mon)</TD><TD>39</TD><TD>23</TD><TD>11</TD><TD>5</TD><TD class=sortcell>51</TD><TD>123</TD><TD>106</TD><TD>22.7</TD><TD>87.9</TD><TD>13-4-3</TD><TD>10-7-2</TD><TD>7-3-0</TD></TR><TR class=evenrow align=right><TD align=left>Dallas (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/clubhouse?team=dal)</TD><TD>40</TD><TD>25</TD><TD>15</TD><TD>0</TD><TD class=sortcell>50</TD><TD>108</TD><TD>91</TD><TD>17.4</TD><TD>84.6</TD><TD>13-6-0</TD><TD>12-9-0</TD><TD>5-5-0</TD></TR><TR class=oddrow align=right><TD align=left>New Jersey (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/clubhouse?team=njd)</TD><TD>39</TD><TD>22</TD><TD>13</TD><TD>4</TD><TD class=sortcell>48</TD><TD>103</TD><TD>95</TD><TD>19.5</TD><TD>88.1</TD><TD>13-3-3</TD><TD>9-10-1</TD><TD>5-3-2</TD></TR><TR class=evenrow align=right><TD align=left>Carolina (http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/clubhouse?team=car)</TD><TD>42</TD><TD>21</TD><TD>17</TD><TD>4</TD><TD class=sortcell>46</TD><TD>126</TD><TD>129</TD><TD>16.3</TD><TD>83.7</TD><TD>11-6-1</TD><TD>10-11-3</TD><TD>6-4-0</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

CREDit GOES TO ESPN

[SkateZilla]

if your gonna copy and paste from espn.com, give them credit.. i dont want errant webmasters coming down on the site for stupid lil things

[Mitchy moo]

1. 6 out of 20 is 30%
2. That's still really good.

The Presidents' Trophy was introduced in 1986. In the past 20 years, 8 Presidents' Trophy Winners have made it to the Cup Finals and 6 have won.

2006 - Carolina (4) d. Edmonton (14)
2004 - Tampa Bay (2) d. Calgary (12)
2003 - New Jersey (4) d. Anaheim (12)
2002 * Detroit(1) d. Carolina (11)
2001 * Colorado(1) d. New Jersey (3)
2000 - New Jersey(4) d. Dallas(6)
1999 * Dallas(1) d. Buffalo (9)
1998 - Detroit (3) d. Washington (8)
1997 - Detroit (5) d. Philadelphia (4)
1996 - Colorado (2) d. Florida (7)
1995 - New Jersey (9) d. Detroit (1)
1994 * New York(1) d. Vancouver (14)
1993 - Montreal (5) d. Los Angeles (11)
1992 - Pittsburgh (6) d. Chicago (7)
1991 - Pittsburgh (7) d. Minnesota (15)
1990 - Edmonton (5) d. Boston (1)
1989 * Calgary (1) d. Montreal (2)
1988 - Edmonton (3) d. Boston (4)
1987 * Edmonton (1) d. Philadelphia (2)
1986 - Montreal (7) d. Calgary (6)

Note: I ordered teams by number of points with tie-breakers going to the team with the most wins. This is different from Playoff seeding, because the top teams from each division get ranked first. (Ex. Detroit was 3rd seed in West in 1998, but I count them as second (3rd overall behind Dallas and NJ). They had more points then Colorado, but Colorado won the Pacific division and thus got 2nd seed.)

So, probability of making it to the Stanley Cup based on your regular season record:

<TABLE border=1><TBODY><TR><TD>Seed</TD><TD>Wins</TD><TD>Appearances</TD><TD>Win Percentage</TD><TD>Appearance Percentage</TD></TR><TR><TD>1</TD><TD>6</TD><TD>8</TD><TD>30%</TD><TD>40%</TD></TR><TR><TD>2</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>10%</TD><TD>20%</TD></TR><TR><TD>3</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>10%</TD><TD>15%</TD></TR><TR><TD>4</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>5</TD><TD>15%</TD><TD>25%</TD></TR><TR><TD>5</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>15%</TD><TD>15%</TD></TR><TR><TD>6</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>3</TD><TD>5%</TD><TD>15%</TD></TR><TR><TD>7</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>4</TD><TD>10%</TD><TD>20%</TD></TR><TR><TD>8</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>0%</TD><TD>5%</TD></TR><TR><TD>9</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>5%</TD><TD>10%</TD></TR><TR><TD>10</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0%</TD><TD>0%</TD></TR><TR><TD>11</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>0%</TD><TD>10%</TD></TR><TR><TD>12</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>0%</TD><TD>10%</TD></TR><TR><TD>13</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0%</TD><TD>0%</TD></TR><TR><TD>14</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>2</TD><TD>0%</TD><TD>10%</TD></TR><TR><TD>15</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>1</TD><TD>0%</TD><TD>5%</TD></TR><TR><TD>16</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0</TD><TD>0%</TD><TD>0%</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

All of this to say, "The winner of the Presidents' Trophy usually does fairly well compared to everyone else."

(thx to Baumann)