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Stanley Cup Playoffs: 5 best Presidents’ Trophy winners that didn’t win the Stanley Cup

By Alex Hoegler

COLUMBUS, OH - APRIL 16: Andrei Vasilevskiy #88 of the Tampa Bay Lightning keeps loose during a stoppage in play in Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 16, 2019 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - APRIL 16: Andrei Vasilevskiy #88 of the Tampa Bay Lightning keeps loose during a stoppage in play in Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 16, 2019 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Scott Wachter/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images
Photo by Scott Wachter/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images /

3. 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins

Mario Lemieux‘s Pittsburgh Penguins looked destined to pull off the improbable three-peat, having won Lord Stanley’s mug in 1991 and ’92. But you can make a case that the 1992-93 Pens were a far better team than the previous Cup-winning squads.

Lemieux missed 24 games after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Disease, which threatened both his career and his life. But once “Super Mario” returned, he was virtually unstoppable — winning the scoring title with 160 points.

The Penguins won the Presidents’ Trophy after garnering 56 wins and 119 points. But the most impressive part of their regular season? The Penguins set a record of 17 straight wins. 26 years later, and we’re still waiting to see if anybody will break it.

Lemieux won the scoring title, but this entire Pittsburgh club was stacked from top to bottom. Three other players hit 100 points — Kevin Stevens (111), Rick Tocchet (109) and Ron Francis (100). Heck, Jaromir Jagr had a “down” year with 94. Hall of Fame blueliner Larry Murphy had 80, while Joe Mullen and Shawn McEachern tallied 33 and 28 goals, respectively.

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Pittsburgh faced the New Jersey Devils in the opening round of the playoffs, cruising through in five games. Up next, the Pens faced a New York Islanders team that finished with 32 less points in the regular season.

Though the Isles’ couldn’t contain Pittsburgh’s top stars, Ray Ferraro and Derek King took their games to another level, each scoring eight points in the series, while Steve Thomas added seven. Goalie Glenn Healy also came up with so many big saves, and before we knew it, the Isles took Pittsburgh to Game 7.

The Isles led 3-1 in the waning stages, but the Pens scored with just 3:47 to go. Tocchet tied the game up with 60 seconds remaining, and the Pens looked poised to three-peat after all. They just needed that next goal.

But unlikely hero David Volek — who scored earlier in the game — hammered home the series-winning goal to silence the Steel City. Volek only had eight goals and 21 points in the regular season, and he was out of the NHL after the 1993-94 campaign.

He’s also the guy who defeated one of the most historically dominant teams ever assembled.

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