Vancouver Canucks Defend Presidents Trophy; Earn Home Ice in NHL Playoffs

As unlikely as it seemed at the beginning of the year, the Vancouver Canucks have successfully defended the Presidents Trophy as the NHL's top team in the regular season. 

Going into the final day of the regular season, the Canucks needed some help from the Washington Capitals to down the New York Rangers. After that, the Canucks needed to earn a point from the hapless Edmonton Oilers. They did so in convincing fashion with a 3-0 victory. 

Now, I'm sure detractors will point out that the Presidents Trophy is just for regular-season play, and doesn't mean anything compared to a Stanley Cup. 

And those detractors would be right...at least partially. 

The Presidents Trophy isn't the end goal for any team. No player grew up dreaming of one day winning the Presidents Trophy. 

But the Presidents Trophy guarantees home-ice advantage through the entire playoffs. (It also guarantees the Canucks will always get the lowest-seeded team in each round, but with the traffic jam in the Central Division, that might not be an advantage.)

Last spring, the Canucks took advantage of the home-ice advantage afforded to them by the Presidents Trophy to open off all four playoff series at home, winning the home opener in each case. In fact, they actually won the first two games in three of the four series.  

They also closed out a playoff series at home twice last year, defeating the Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks in overtime games at Rogers Arena. 

So as a guarantee of home-ice advantage, the Presidents Trophy is a nice thing to win. 

On an individual level, the Presidents Trophy also should help guarantee head coach Alain Vigneault's job security, regardless of whether or not the Canucks hoist the Stanley Cup in June.

On a closing note, the last team to win the Presidents Trophy in back-to-back years was the Detroit Red Wings in 2003-2004 and 2005-2006, on either side of the lockout.

Emulating the Red Wings, the NHL's most consistently successful franchise in the modern era, is nice.

What would be nicer is if the Canucks can emulate the playoff success of the Red Wings and start raising some Stanley Cup banners. And home-ice advantage will help in that quest.