Islanders Win Presidents' Trophy
Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2023 7:39 pm
The New York Islanders won the GVFHL's Presidents' Trophy for the first time in franchise history, capping off a 56 win, 123 point season. Despite Connor McDavid having an off year by his standards, he still led the way for New York with 47 goals and 89 points. In fact, the Islanders had three 40+ goal scorers on the season as Brayden Point also scored 47 and Nikita Kucherov notched 43. Quinn Hughes led the backend with 74 points, with Adam Fox not too far behind at 67. Jusse Saros won 43 games with 6 shutouts.
While the President's trophy doesn't guarantee a Stanley Cup win by any means, it does help to enter the playoffs as the number 1 seed in a very tough and tight Eastern Conference. The fifth place Buffalo Sabres do not have home ice in the first round, despite winning 52 games and having 115 points for example. Whoever comes out of the East will have a gauntlet to go through just to make the cup finals. It helps for the Isles to have home ice throughout, but the real work to win their first cup starts now.
