#1 PP units for every Stanley Cup champion (playoffs)

[Blades of Glory]

I thought this might be an interesting exercise. The #1 PP unit during the playoffs for every Cup champion. I know a lot of teams did not have set five-man units, but generally, they still consisted of at least 3-4 set pieces with 1 or 2 revolving doors. I'll go as far back as I can remember. Even then, my memory is quite foggy so I will mark * for every one that I am not sure about.

Year Team (LW-C-RW-D-D)
2010 Blackhawks (Sharp-Toews-Kane-Keith-Seabrook)
2009 Penguins (Kunitz-Crosby-Malkin-Gonchar-Letang)
2008 Red Wings (Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Holmstrom-Lidstrom-Rafalski)
2007 Ducks (McDonald-Getzlaf-Selanne-Niedermayer-Pronger)
2006 Hurricanes* (They had many moving pieces FWIW)
2004 Lightning (Andreychuk-Lecavalier-St.Louis-Richards-Boyle/Kubina)
2003 Devils* (Elias-Gomez?-Langenbrunner?-Niedermayer-Rafalski)
2002 Red Wings (Shanahan-Yzerman-Holmstrom-Lidstrom-Fedorov)
2001 Avalanche (Tanguay-Sakic-Hejduk-Blake-Bourque) [post-Forsberg]
2000 Devils (Elias-Arnott-Sykora-Niedermayer-Rafalski)
1999 Stars (Lehtinen-Modano-Hull-Sydor-Zubov)
1998 Red Wings (Shanahan-Yzerman-Fedorov-Lidstrom-Murphy)
1997 Red Wings* (XXXX-Yzerman-XXXXX-Lidstrom-Fedorov)
1996 Avalanche (Kamensky-Forsberg-Lemieux-Ozolinsh-Sakic)
1995 Devils* (No idea)
1994 Rangers (Graves-Messier-Kovalev-Leetch-Zubov)
1993 Habs (Muller-Damphousse-Bellows-Schneider-Desjardins)
1992 Penguins (Stevens-Lemieux-Tocchet-XXXX-Murphy)
1991 Penguins (Stevens-Lemieux-Recchi-Coffey-Murphy)
1990 Oilers* (Simpson-Messier-Anderson-Smith-Kurri)
1989 Flames* (XXXX-Gilmour-Mullen-Suter-MacInnis)
1986 Habs (Smith-Naslund-Lemieux-Robinson-Chelios)


This is about where I can go solely off memory. Still, there are quite a few XXXXX's which means I have a lot of blanks. I just am not sure about Gretzky's Oilers.

Click to read more...

 

[Brodeur]

2003 Devils* (Elias-Gomez?-Langenbrunner?-Niedermayer-Rafalski)

Elias-Gomez-Marshall-Niedermayer-Rafalski, although Friesen-Nieuwendyk-Langenbrunner kinda alternated as the top PP line.

2000 Devils (Elias-Arnott-Sykora-Niedermayer-Rafalski)

Elias-Holik-Sykora-Arnott-Rafalski, Lemieux-Gomez-Mogilny-Niedermayer-Malakhov on the PP#2

Those were the days....

 

[Gootie]

Hawks was

Buff (sometimes Bolland)-Toews-Kane

Sharp-Keith

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

Hawks was

Buff (sometimes Bolland)-Toews-Kane

Sharp-Keith

Don't remember Bolland playing much on the 1st unit at all in the playoffs. Here's how I remember it...

1st Unit
Buff - Toews - Kane
Sharp - Keith

2nd Unit
Versteeg/Kopecky - Bolland* - Hossa
Campbell - Seabrook

*When the Hawks had a lead I remember Bolland not playing the PP so he could play more ES and PK minutes, in which case Kopecky would play C.

EDIT: Brouwer would sometimes be the net presence on the 2nd Unit (maybe sometimes the 1st when Buff was playing D for a few games, but can't remember for sure). He played less and less as the playoffs went on though

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Someone else can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the 1995 Devils PP was this in the playoffs:

Claude Lemieux - Neil Broten - John MacLean
Stephane Richer - Bruce Driver

Bill Guerin - Bobby Holik - Randy McKay
Scott Niedermayer - Shawn Chambers

I might have Guerin and MacLean reversed, though.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Elias-Gomez-Marshall-Niedermayer-Rafalski, although Friesen-Nieuwendyk-Langenbrunner kinda alternated as the top PP line.



Elias-Holik-Sykora-Arnott-Rafalski, Lemieux-Gomez-Mogilny-Niedermayer-Malakhov on the PP#2

Those were the days....

These are correct for 1995 and 2000.

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

2009 Penguins (Guerin-Crosby-Malkin-Letang-Gonchar)

Kunitz was on the 1st PP when he was first acquired, but his net front role was taken over by Guerin come playoff time.

 

[Padan]

2006 Hurricanes* (They had many moving pieces FWIW)

Williams-Brind'Amour-Stillman
Hedican-Staal

Whitney-Weight-Recchi
Kaberle-Cullen