best core to never to win a cup?

[GMR]

The core of the 71 Bruins won a cup the year before and after that year, and the core of the Penguins also won, don't believe that is what the OP was asking.

I know. I mentioned Tampa Bay as a modern answer to the OP's question. I then mentioned how if they don't win this year, they would also be a candidate for best single season team never to win the Cup.

 

[The Panther]

Nah, the '95-'96 Red Wings clearly own that distinction.

Yeah, but the same core did win in '97 and '98. That kind of absolved the '96 team (which still made it to the third round -- it's not like they flamed out in round one).

 

[MadLuke]

Yeah the question being best core and not best team remove 95-96 Red Wings, that core went on to have immense success right after.

Like the Ottawa Senator suggestion, Tampa core has probably quite the windows to win one if it is not this year.

 

[Talisman]

i dont know if this is a good candidate but Colorado 2003-04!!.

sakic/Forsberg/selanne/kariya/heijduk/tanguay/Blake/Foote.

 

[Hoser]

I know. I mentioned Tampa Bay as a modern answer to the OP's question. I then mentioned how if they don't win this year, they would also be a candidate for best single season team never to win the Cup.

People's lack of reading comprehension, eh?

 

[frisco]

Sabres of the mid-70's to mid 80's was a good pick. In 1975 the team started a 11-year playoff streak where they averaged 100 points which is a pretty good run of regular season success. But only one Finals to show for it. Rene Robert was 26 in 1975 as was Rick Dudley, Don Luce, and Jerry Korab. Perreault, Rick Martin, Craig Ramsay, Danny Gare, Peter McNab, Bill Hajt, Jim Schoenfeld were all 24 or younger. Bowman took over and gutted the team in the early 80's but they again were strong with Perreault still there, Andreychuk, Barrasso, Housley, M.Foligno.

My Best-Carey

 

[mrhockey193195]

Early 70s Rangers, mid-00s Senators, late 90s-early 00s Blues, early 90s Blackhawks all come to mind.

 

[NHL WAR]

They don't qualify for this thread, but I find it crazy that the Hull-Mikita-Pilote-Hall era Blackhawks only managed to win one Cup in a 6 team league.

 

[WingsFan95]

For my life-time my vote goes to 1997 Flyers:

LeClair-Lindros-Renberg
Podein-Brind'Amour-Klatt

Niinimaa-Coffey
Therien-Desjardins

Hextall/Snow

I know how that looks on paper but it was a very solid grinding team for the time not that unlike the Devils. And there's really no major holes except for Coffey getting exposed by Detroit. It's a very solid team especially with Hextall playing well in net. You also have to consider the two-way play of those forwards.

But as an outside, 94 Wings. Obviously we know the guys who DID win in 97/98 but you take away Shanahan and Fetisov and add Paul Coffey, Mark Howe (last good season), Chiasson, Primeau and do not laugh but Ray Sheppard at his absolute best scoring 52 goals (yeah, later help lead the 96 Panthers) and garbage man but still Hall of Famer Dino Ciccarelli. Let's also not forget this was Fedorov's Hart Trophy year. Fetisov, with all do respect, was not more valuable than Howe, let alone Howe, Coffey and Chiasson put together, and Shanahan was not worth more than Primeau, Sheppard and Ciccarelli put together. Way better depth.

 

[decma]

Sabres of the mid-70's to mid 80's was a good pick. In 1975 the team started a 11-year playoff streak where they averaged 100 points which is a pretty good run of regular season success. But only one Finals to show for it. Rene Robert was 26 in 1975 as was Rick Dudley, Don Luce, and Jerry Korab. Perreault, Rick Martin, Craig Ramsay, Danny Gare, Peter McNab, Bill Hajt, Jim Schoenfeld were all 24 or younger. Bowman took over and gutted the team in the early 80's but they again were strong with Perreault still there, Andreychuk, Barrasso, Housley, M.Foligno.

My Best-Carey

Good call.

I would also suggest the contemporaneous Bruins.
From 75-76 to 83-84 the Bruins had reg season point totals of:
113
106
113
100
105
87
96
110
104

Orr and Espo had a handful of games for the B's in 75-76, and Cashman was still around a few seasons after that, but the late 70s/early 80s core was quite different from the Stanley Cup champions of the early 70s.

The core was essentially Middleton, McNab, O'Reilly, Cashman, Ratelle and Park, with Pederson, Crowder, Bourque and O'Connel in the latter half of the period.

 

[sr edler]

i dont know if this is a good candidate but Colorado 2003-04!!.

sakic/Forsberg/selanne/kariya/heijduk/tanguay/Blake/Foote.

A core in sports context is something that stays together for a couple of seasons at least and gets build around. Two of those players do not fit the criteria on this particular team. Chris Drury was more of a core player for the Avalanche than those guys.

 

[Pominville Knows]

They don't qualify for this thread, but I find it crazy that the Hull-Mikita-Pilote-Hall era Blackhawks only managed to win one Cup in a 6 team league.

What if only one cup actually was due to it being a six team league and that quartet in itself would have been more uniqually good in a larger league?

 

[NHL WAR]

What if only one cup actually was due to it being a six team league and that quartet in itself would have been more uniqually good in a larger league?

Yeah, this crossed my mind as well....talent didn't have to be spread very far in a 6 team league.

 

[LuckyPierre]

For my time as a fan, the 1998-2008 Senators come to mind. Out of those nine seasons, they had four division championships, six 100+ point seasons. One Stanley Cup appearance, another ECF appearance.

For that run:
Alfredsson (1998-2008)
Hossa (1998-2004), traded for Heatley (2005-2008)
Redden (1998-2008)
Chara (2001-2006)
Bonk (1998-2004)
Havlat (2000-2006)
Fisher (1999-2008)
Yashin (1998-2001), traded for Chara+Spezza (2002-2008)
Phillips (1998-2008)
Vermette (2003-2008)
Volchenkov (2002-2008)
Neil (2001-2008)

Maybe never had the brand name goaltending or a top line center for the 2002-04 playoff runs. I was surprised that the Devils were able to get past them in 2003.

Ottawa had Hasek for their dream team season in 2005 (not to mention the locked out season), so they even had brand name goaltending.

Also of note, they won the President's trophy in 2003.

 

[Brodeur]

Ottawa had Hasek for their dream team season in 2005 (not to mention the locked out season), so they even had brand name goaltending.

Hasek was 40/41 that season and he missed the playoffs due to injury. So they never had a name brand goalie for a playoff run during that era.

 

[c9777666]

1967-1974 NY Rangers

 

[RealisticLeaf55]

Sens Alfie-Spezza-Heatley should have won a cup.

Leafs 93' should have won a cup but Kerry Fraser loves him some Gretzky.

When the Blues had Hull and Oates. They came so close.

Canucks with Sedins, Kesler, Luongo. Lost to Bruins.

Canucks again against rangers but, lol Mark Messier.

The Iginla, Phaneuf, Regehr, Sarich, year before the Tampa Bay Screw Job.

Buffalo with Hasek during the questionable Stars cup victory. Along with the Mogilny, Nedved era.

The Oilers when they lost to the Hurricanes.

 

[Pominville Knows]

Sens Alfie-Spezza-Heatley should have won a cup.

Leafs 93' should have won a cup but Kerry Fraser loves him some Gretzky.

When the Blues had Hull and Oates. They came so close.

Canucks with Sedins, Kesler, Luongo. Lost to Bruins.

Canucks again against rangers but, lol Mark Messier.

The Iginla, Phaneuf, Regehr, Sarich, year before the Tampa Bay Screw Job.

Buffalo with Hasek during the questionable Stars cup victory. Along with the Mogilny, Nedved era.

The Oilers when they lost to the Hurricanes.

You are hard to please i see.

 

[VanIslander]

Over the 6-year span (seasons ending 1969-1974), the following core was intact:

Brad Park
Jean Ratelle
Rod Gilbert
Vic Hadfield (captain)
Jim "Chief" Neilson
Rod Seiling
Walt Tkaczuk
Ed Giacomin

At the tail end of that stretch: Four consecutive trips to the semifinals, one of them to the Stanley Cup Finals, after 40 or more wins in all four regular seasons.

 

[The Wizard of Oz]

i dont know if this is a good candidate but Colorado 2003-04!!.

sakic/Forsberg/selanne/kariya/heijduk/tanguay/Blake/Foote.

Injuries are a drag. That team would have been fun to watch healthy. Curious were their any rumblings of a Roy unretirement for that year? I’d imagine the big FA signings could have intrigued him.

 

[The Panther]

They don't qualify for this thread, but I find it crazy that the Hull-Mikita-Pilote-Hall era Blackhawks only managed to win one Cup in a 6 team league.

I really think that might be the winner. The Hull-Blackhawks won one in 1961 well before they had peaked as a team. They were probably a bit lucky. And imagine if Hull had retired without a Cup!

 

[The Panther]

Sens Alfie-Spezza-Heatley should have won a cup.

Leafs 93' should have won a cup but Kerry Fraser loves him some Gretzky.

When the Blues had Hull and Oates. They came so close.

Canucks with Sedins, Kesler, Luongo. Lost to Bruins.

Canucks again against rangers but, lol Mark Messier.

The Iginla, Phaneuf, Regehr, Sarich, year before the Tampa Bay Screw Job.

Buffalo with Hasek during the questionable Stars cup victory. Along with the Mogilny, Nedved era.

The Oilers when they lost to the Hurricanes.

Your username seems inaccurate.

 

[Mike8]

I like the Ottawa suggestion for the modern era. Pretty wild to have had Chara, Hossa/Heatley, Spezza, Alfredsson, Yashin, Redden, Phillips, Havlat and some quality depth and never really put it together. They also maintained much of that core for ~8 years (swapping core components like Heatley/Hossa and Spezza/Yashin).

Some variant of the following:

Schaefer-Spezza-Alfredsson
Arvedson-Bonk-Hossa
Smolinski-Fisher-Havlat
Varada-Vermette-Neil

Chara-Redden
Volchenkov-Phillips
Rachunek-Leschyshyn

1999: 3rd in the league
2001: 4th in the league
2003: President's Trophy
2004: 6th in the league
2006: 2nd in the league
2007: Lost in Finals

I think the Sens had secondary/tertiary scoring that overwhelms the Nucks ~2011 core and the top-end D. Of course, Luongo may more than compensate.

 

[Jim MacDonald]

I don't know if they've already been mentioned guys, but how about the 92-93 Bruins? Adam Oates was on fire....Bourque is still there...I don't know if Cam Neely is having that nasty bone growing into the muscle in 92-93 at that point following the Samuelsson hit, but I imagine, even if it was for one season, that team's core had to be dynamite.

 

[RealisticLeaf55]

Your username seems inaccurate.

My username is inaccurate because your opinion differs than mine?

Seems distasteful. Regardless. To each their own.