Colorado Avalanche Clinch Fourth Presidents' Trophy In Team History
The Colorado Avalanche beat the Calgary Flames on Thursday to clinch their second Presidents' Trophy win in six seasons. Here's how.
The Colorado Avalanche have officially clinched the Presidents' Trophy. A 2-0 victory over the Calgary Flames on Thursday gives the Avalanche enough points to ensure they finish atop the NHL standings. They'll have home-ice advantage in the playoffs, no matter who they face.
Thursday's contest marked Colorado's 52nd win of the regular season. Their record improves to 52-16-10, with 114 points in 78 games. This is the Avalanche's fourth Presidents' Trophy in franchise history as the best team in the NHL for the regular season.
They've previously won it in 1996-97, 2000-01 and 2020-21. Those three Presidents' Trophy-winning campaigns all came around the time of Colorado's three Stanley Cup championships. The franchise's first Stanley Cup victory came in 1996, one year before its first Presidents' Trophy.
In 2001, the Avalanche got their hands on both awards and were simply the best team in the NHL, regular season and playoffs. And their latest Cup-winning season came in 2022, just one year after they won their third Presidents' Trophy in 2021. If history is a reliable source, the Avs could very well be coming up on their fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history as early as this year or next season.