Ryan McDonagh receives the Presidents' Trophy from deputy commissioner Bill Daly. (USATSI)
Ryan McDonagh receives the Presidents' Trophy from deputy commissioner Bill Daly. (USATSI)

The New York Rangers clinched the Presidents’ Trophy Tuesday, but officially received the hardware prior to Thursday night’s game against the Ottawa Senators. Deputy commissioner Bill Daly was on hand to present the award for the 2014-15 regular season champions.

Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh accepted the award on the team’s behalf. 

And it looks like McDonagh touched it, though there's some debate as to whether he actually did. For instance, the NHL's twitter account says he didn't touch the trophy -- as some players are superstitious about touching any trophy before winning the Stanley Cup. I say who cares? 

Also, It sounded like there was a gasp from some of the Rangers fans as McDonagh is holding onto the base of the trophy. Then the crowd erupted with a "We want the Cup" chant, which is as sure a sign of spring as anything else.

The Rangers came into Thursday night’s contest  with a 52-21-7 record and 111 points in the standings.

Winning the Presidents’ Trophy is nice, but with the big prize still to play for, this trophy presentation was every bit as anticlimactic as you would expect. Still, finishing with the best record of any of the 30 teams in an 82-game season is a heck of an accomplishment and probably should be viewed as such more than it is.

New York will look to become the first team since the Chicago Blackhawks waaaaay back in 2013 to pull off the rare double of winning both the Presidents’ Trophy and Stanley Cup in the same season.