Bruins Notebook: No Presidents’ Trophy Pressure This Time – The Hockey Writers –

Every year, part of Beantown’s celebration on Patriots’ Day includes the Boston Marathon and a Red Sox matinee game. This year on Monday’s Massachusetts state holiday commemorating the Revolutionary War, many Hub fans also had their eyes on an NHL game 440 miles south in the nation’s capital.

And while a 2-0 loss by the Boston Bruins to the Washington Capitals wasn’t exactly what they were hoping for, there was some good news to be had when the New York Rangers topped the Ottawa Senators 4-0 in the Big Apple. That win by the Rangers — one of the Bruins’ biggest rivals — wrapped up the Presidents’ Trophy for the Blueshirts, giving the Boston faithful a collective sigh of relief.

Avoiding the Presidents’ Trophy and the so-called curse that goes with it was a hot topic all season in the city, and now it has come to pass that Boston won’t have to feel that built-in, added pressure this time around. A year ago, as NHL followers know so well, Boston had the best regular season in history to claim the award only to get bounced by the Florida Panthers in the first round of the playoffs. That collapse was a “Hindenberg-like ending,” according to Bruins TV announcer Jack Edwards in a Huffington Post article.

And for sure, there is some credence to the curse: only eight of the 36 previous Presidents’ Trophy winners went on to win the Stanley Cup. The B’s, by the way, were among the other 28 on four separate occasions. And although Boston was not expected to come close to ending the 2023-24 regular season with NHL top-of-the-mountain status for a second year in a row, the Bruins still had a chance to do just that going into Monday’s game.

So now, thanks to the Rangers and a loss to the Capitals, Bruins fans got what they wanted. That wish and prevailing sentiment was summed up nicely by Chris Young in an April 5 (Attleboro, Massachusetts) Sun-Chronicle story: “No one around here wants to be in contention for the Presidents’ Trophy again, because that regular-season award rarely leads to a Stanley Cup championship (last time it did: the 2013 Chicago Blackhawks), and is more of a jinx than an honor.”

If Young wanted to update those thoughts today, he could headline an article with: “Let the Rangers Have It.”

Atlantic…