Red Wings Making Push at Record
Detroit On Pace To Challenge 62-Win Season, But Will Cup Follow?
Already with 40 wins, the Detroit Red Wings are on pace to challenge their 62-win season of 1995-96. Will that success continue into the playoffs?
If we needed more evidence that there truly are two seasons in the NHL (and in most professional sports, for that matter), look no further than the Detroit Red Wings and their push to set a new regular-season win record.
When the Wings beat the Boston Bruins Feb. 1, they posted their 40th win of the season. With 28 games to play, Detroit is threatening the record for most victories in a season of 62, held by the 1995-96 Red Wings. Winning 22 of 28 is only slighter better than the clip at which they've been winning all season, and if they're able to endure a road-trip heavy February, much of what's left on the schedule will be played at Joe Louis Arena.
No doubt fans in Hockeytown will get more and more giddy if the wins keep piling over the next few weeks. Short of a major collapse, the Wings appear almost certain to claim at least the President's Trophy for the most points won during the regular season. Winning the President's Trophy and setting the league record for wins in a season are two different accomplishments, and while neither is ever a bad thing and certainly doesn't eliminate a team from Stanley Cup contention, nor are they assurances of playoff success.
Detroit hockey fans need only remember the 1995-96 season when their beloved Wings won 62 games and scored 131 points to win the President's Trophy, but lost to Colorado in the Western Conference finals. Truth is, that fate is more the norm than the exception for President's Trophy winners.
The league began awarding the President's Trophy following the 1985-86 season, when Edmonton won 119 points but lost to Calgary early in the playoffs. Since then, 21 teams have won the trophy (there was no winner following the 2004-05 season because of the lockout) but only six of them have gone on to claim the Stanley Cup. Two other times, the President's Trophy winner lost in the Cup finals.
That means that 13 times in 21 seasons, the team with the most regular-season points has lost before reaching the Stanley Cup finals.
Simply winning the President's Trophy, though, is hardly the accomplishment that winning 62-plus games would be. And with regards to playoff fate among teams that have won upwards of 60 games during a regular season, the forecast gets a little brighter for the Wings. Prior to the 1995-96 season, the 1976-77 Montreal Canadians won a then-record 60 games and went on to win the Stanley Cup. A year later, the Canadians won 59 games and repeated as Cup champions.
