If you’re an athlete, you know that a little affirmation can get you a long way. There’s nothing wrong with some occasional drumbeating for yourself. In fact, boasting about your achievements and reminding yourself about the big wins can even help to keep up the morale. However, it seems like the San Jose Sharks have taken a step too far, and hockey fans can’t stop sneering over it.

Making it to the playoffs is quite an achievement in itself for any pro league in the USA. Finishing the regular season ahead of everyone else? Even better! However, in the NHL community, this particular feat isn’t something the teams eagerly look forward to. The reason? The Presidents’ Trophy is often associated with a “curse”: Since the cap-era introduced in hockey in the league in 2002, only two teams have managed to lay claim to the Stanley Cup after wrapping up the regular season with the highest points and bagging the Presidents’ Trophy. Goes without saying that mention of this silverware goes unnamed more often than not by teams who have won it. But the Sharks seemed to have their facts mixed-up, and the fans aren’t wasting the chance for a laugh.

On Monday, B/R Open Ice took to X to share the hilarious mistake by the San Jose Sharks. The image that accompanies the post shows a banner proclaiming the Western Conference team’s Presidents’ Trophy victory in the 2015-16 season adorning the SAP Center. However, there’s just one little inaccuracy in the information. “The Sharks haven’t won a Presidents’ Trophy since 2008-2009 but that didn’t stop them from hanging a new banner that said they won it in 2015-2016,” the tweet attempts to correct the fault.

The social media update also notes that it was the New York Rangers and the Washington Capitals who won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2015 and ’16, respectively. In 2016, the San Jose Sharks finished the regular season in 11th place. However, you can’t go blindly after the team still. The team did finish the regular season at the top of the pack in the 2008-2009 season, the only time it has done so in franchise history, and maybe the Presidents’ Trophy banner was a genuine mistake.

Along with the newly put-up, and confusing, banner, San Jose also did away with its six divisional championship banners and compiled all the data into a new one. The logo of the team on all the banners was downsized, while the fonts were noticeably bigger. Another banner also celebrated the franchise’s Western Conference triumph from 2015 to 16, along with two more banners honoring Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau. However, it was the banner at the center that hogged all the attention during Sunday’s preseason game between the San Jose Sharks and the Vegas Golde Knights.

The Sharks’ president, Jonathan Becher, said on Sunday that the whole mix-up was a “printing error“, and that the team had been made aware of the same. But the fans weren’t going to let the opportunity slide to have a good time at San Jose’s expense.

Fans give the San Jose Sharks a piece of their minds

For most NHL teams, winning the Presidents’ Trophy is generally seen as bad news. Take the Florida Panthers for example. The Cats finished the regular season campaign on a high note, amassing 122 points, the highest number since the Tampa Bay Lightnings’ incredible 128-point 2018-19 season. However, in the conference semis that year, the future back-to-back Stanley Cup winners were swept aside by the Lightning and eliminated from the playoffs. This year, the Rangers missed the playoffs, becoming only the fourth team in NHL history to do so a year after winning the Presidents’ Trophy. Both these instances once again highlight how this particular trophy became the bearer of woes for the teams, and the fans couldn’t believe the Sharks would actually want to take up the burden themselves.

“That’s the kiss of death award. Never knew teams hung banners for winning it. Then again, the @SanJoseSharks have not had much playoff success,” chuckled one fan, trying to rationalize the Sharks’ tall claim. But another hockey fan was among those who only saw the whole thing as an elaborate joke. “can a team not lie for fun anymore,” read their comment.

The fiasco gave others ideas about how the Sharks could also use the fans’ ignorance to make a few claims for themselves. The Maple Leafs, who have not won the Cup since 1967, some fans suggested, could get in on the trend. “Leafs need to follow suit and put a couple of Stanley Cup banners from the last 10 years,” sneered one fan. “Sharks always gonna shark,” yet another fan took a jibe at the team.

“Clown organization,” more hockey fans just couldn’t stop throwing shade at the team at this opportune moment. What’s your take? Weigh in on the debate with a comment!