BOSTON — What’s the point of all this winning if it doesn’t come with even more winning?

The President’s Trophy-winning Boston Bruins remind me of that old Don Draper line from the classic series “Mad Men”: What is happiness? A moment before you need more happiness.

The hometown hockey team has been on track to break the National Hockey League record for wins and points in a season for months. The entire time, the fan base has been muttering to itself that it’s all rather meaningless without the Stanley Cup.

What’s the point of all this happiness if we don’t get even more happiness in June?

Some would say that’s a rather childish way of looking at an historic season, akin to a kid wolfing down a candy bar and demanding another without even tasting the chocolate. Some would say that’s life in North American pro sports – we care about the tournament and the ultimate prize, not the European soccer table.

With the Bruins having clinched the President’s Trophy as the NHL’s top regular season team last week and not much else to talk about before the Stanley Cup playoff begin in two weeks’ time, the curse of regular season greatness has come up a lot lately.

Many of the best regular season teams of all-time have fallen flat in the playoffs: The 116-win Seattle Mariners of 2001; the record-setting 73-win Golden State Warriors of 2016 and the undefeated New England Patriots of 2007.

In hockey, the history is worse. In 2019, Tampa Bay tied the record for most wins in a single season, then got swept in the first round of the playoffs by Columbus. No President’s Trophy winning team has hoisted the Stanley Cup since 2013 … and that was a lockout shortened season. No team has won it all while also being first in a full 82-game regular season since the 2008 Detroit Red Wings.

There’s an interesting parallel between those Red Wings and the Bruins that provides some hope – in both cases it was the third President’s Trophy won by a particular group. Detroit won it in 2004 and 2006 without winning the Cup, then cashed in on third one. The Bruins, similarly, failed to win the Cup in President’s Trophy years in 2014 and 2020 … and are now poised for a third run at breaking the curse.

It’s remarkable that Boston has been the best regular season team three times in 10 years under three different coaches (Claude Julien, Bruce Cassidy and now Jim Montgomery) and with two different goalies (Tuukka Rask twice and now Linus Ullmark). The only two players that have been around for all three? Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand.

This is, interestingly, Bergeron’s first President’s Trophy as captain. Revisiting our Detroit parallel, Hall of Fame defenseman Nick Lidstrom’s first President’s Trophy as captain begat the Stanley Cup in 2008 … more evidence that good things could happen for Boston.

One President’s Trophy might be a fluke … hello Florida Panthers (2022) and Nashville Predators (2018). Three President’s Trophies is a lot.

Yet Bergeron and Marchand wear them more like Jacob Marley’s weighted chains and not at all like gold medals. They don’t engrave your name on the President’s Trophy and you don’t get it tattooed on your rib cage, after all.

Nobody wants to have more President’s Trophies than Stanley Cups, which is why teams don’t brag about racking them up. Two men have captained teams to three President’s Trophies: Detroit’s Steve Yzerman and Washington’s Alex Ovechkin. Yzerman won three Cups and Oveckin just one, so you can see why their legacies are different.

At present, Bergeron and Marchand’s President-to-Cup ratio is 3-to-1. If they get it to 3-to-2 in a few months, this amazing season near the end of their careers is validated. If it remains as is … well, we won’t want to talk about the President’s Trophy anymore.

You almost have to credit Boston’s fans for consistency. They laughed at Tampa Bay when it lost in the first round three years ago and generally chortle at highly seeded squads that flop in any sport. Holding their own team to the same standard is laudable.

It has also made this historic season a little joyless.

There are four games left and after at least one of them, the Bruins will break a record. My advice is to be happy instead of searching for more happiness.

Try eating this particular candy bar in small, savory bites … and keep your fingers crossed that a playoff roller coaster ride doesn’t make you to throw it up.

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