14% of people know that you can prove anything with statistics. I'm going to show you why it's better to be in the top percent than looking from the outside.
There have been 10 Stanley Cup winners since the dawn of the new millennium and only two teams have repeated as champions. The thing most Canucks fans are questioning now is the supposed curse of winning the President's Trophy and not going deep. The fear of success is setting in.
Here is a list of information which I will explain below
2000 G/G G/A
Devils 2/7 Wings Blues
2001
Avalanche 4/4 Devils Sabres
2002
Wings 2/4 Canucks Avalanche
2003
Devils 14/2 Detroit Flyers
2004
Lightning 3/11 Senators Devils
2006
Hurricanes 3/20 Senators Flames
2007
Ducks 8/7 Sabres Wild
2008
Wings 3/1 Senators Wings
2009
Penguins 6/17 Wings Bruins
2010
Blackhawks 3/6 Captials Devils
The first column has the year and the cup winner.
The second column has the league leader in Goals Scored per game.
The third column has the league leader in Goals Against per game.
The two numbers beside the Champion are where they ranked in both categories.
In this sample size the eventual cup winner been in the top 10 in one of the two categories. The only time a Cup winner was not in top 10 in goals scored per game was 2003 Devils- the epitome of what so many hated about the NHL then. Three teams were not in the top 10 in goals against and of the three two were post-lockout- the 'new' NHL.
Three teams were top 5 in both categories, 2001 Avalanche, 2002 & 2008 Red Wings. Finally 8 teams were top 5 in at least one category.
What this small sample size illustrates is that you have to be good to be a champion. You have to be at or near the top of the league in either of these categories. However, of those 10 championship series only three times were the final two contestants one of the league leaders in either category.
Is it a good thing the Canucks clinched home-ice through the conference? Yes. Should the Canucks win the President's Trophy this year will that be seen as good? I think it should. If the Canucks lose in the first or second round will the talking heads come out and hype the curse- you can bank on it!
In 20 years the President's Trophy winner has gone to the Stanley Cup Final 35% of the time. The winner has won the cup 25% of the time. The winner has also made it to the conference final 70% of the time and won the final 40% of the time in the last 20 years. The Trophy winner has also lost the opening round series 25% of the time with 4 of the last five first round exits happening in the last 10 years, 3 of which in the last 5 years. 75% of the time the President's Trophy winner advances beyond round one.
When looking at the record the Canucks have against the top 8 in the Western Conference it's all .500 or better. In my book that gives them a fighting chance against every team and reason the be considered the favourite. This year it's not a question of how the Canucks enter the post season it's all about the lessons learned from the previous years of second round exits.
Enjoy the day.
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Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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