Worth the effort? The Red Wings are the latest Presidents' Trophy winner to make an early exit from the postseason

"Goaltending is the most important thing in playoff hockey," Tortorella explained during the Stanley Cup final against Calgary. "We won't be here if it wasn't for our goaltender playing in the fourth round. They (Calgary) wouldn't be here if it wasn't for their goaltender. There are other things that come into play as far as winning and losing, but the goaltending in the regular season and playoffs is the most important piece of the puzzle."

"You simply must have great goaltending," says former NHL player Jim Fox, now the color commentator on Los Angeles Kings telecasts. "Goalies will be mad at me for saying this but in my opinion you shouldn't give the Coma Smythe Trophy to a goalie because it's a given that without great goaltending you're not going to win the Stanley Cup. If you don't have it, you're not going to get there."

Goaltenders earn their reputations in the heat of post-season competition.

"Some goalies in big games get small, some goalies in big games get big," offers Nashville Predators goaltending coach Mitch Korn. "The best goalies want to make a difference every time they play. They don't make excuses or blame the defense, They want to make the difference themselves."

"That's what separates the great goaltenders from the test of the pack," agrees Detroit general manager Ken Holland." If a playoff series is on the line and you make the saves and your team wins, then you've made the difference. Looking back on the series with San Jose in '94, Arturs Irbe stood on his head and their whole team responded. The Sharks got good production out of their players but to win a series in the playoffs you need real good goaltending and they got it from Irbe. You can look back on a number of saves as turning points and Irbe made those saves and we were out."

The Sharks played spoiler to another Presidents' Trophy club in 2000 when they shocked St. Louis in the opening round. San Jose barely made the Western Conference playoffs with a 35-30-10-7 mark for 87 points, 27 points behind the league-leading Blues. Confidence was justifiably high in St Louis as the Blues were 4-0-1 in the regular season against the final seed Sharks.

While Steve Shields was outstanding in the San Jose net, team captain Owen Nolan exhibited a shining example of performance under pressure when he almost single-handedly dismantled the Presidents' Trophy winners. Although the Sharks succumbed to Dallas in round two, Nolan's performance during a two-week period rivaled that of the greatest clutch players in recent history.

"He was as good as anybody," agrees John Ferguson, special consultant to San Jose general manager Doug Wilson. "Owen put on a show and it's too bad he got hurt because in the next round (against Dallas) we really missed him. When the Sharks knocked out St. Louis, Owen Nolan was the man."

So, is the Presidents' Trophy overrated?

Not if you put it in perspective. Winning the President's Trophy means that you're the most consistent team in the league. It is a huge honor and occasionally may even be the precursor to a Stanley Cup--as evidenced by Presidents'Trophy teams that did win the Stanley Cup, most recently the 2001-02 Red Wings, 2000-01 Avalanche and 1998-99 Stars. But winning the Stanley Cup means you're the most battle-ready.