Best team to never win a cup?

[kmad]

Snipped this from the 2010 Hall of Fame thread.

Howe was the best player, and far and away the most valuable player on the 80's Flyers team (the best ever to not win a Cup).

This would make for a good discussion. Which team is the best not to win a cup?

80s Flyers? Early 90s Bruins? Present day Sharks? Early 2000s Senators? 90s Blues? 70s Sabres?

Click to read more...

 

[Brodie]

If single seasons count then the 1995 Red Wings. Easily.

 

[Canadiens Fan]

If we're counting single season's, I'll park my vote with either the 1985-86 Edmonton Oilers (Gretzky's greatest season ??) or the 1970-71 Boston Bruins (set 30 plus NHL records in a single season and didn't win the Cup).

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

i'd take the '96 wings over '95. maybe the '93 pens too. but i think the point of the thread is a team with a nucleus that mostly stayed the same for 3-5 years.

of the teams listed in the OP, the flyers from '84-'89 are easily the best. howe was their leader, mccrimmon by his side; poulin, who i always thought was their most important forward; propp and kerr; marsh and crossman; young guys like tocchet, zezel, craven, and later mellanby; softies like sinisalo and eklund; grinders like the sutter twins; lindbergh, then froese, then hextall-- that was one hell of a core and they stayed together, and played really well, for an impressively long stretch.

i don't know who i would put ahead of those guys... the flames of the same period almost qualified for best ever to not win status. maybe the bruins after the esposito/hodge for park/ratelle trade.

 

[nik jr]

'70s blackhawks are a possibility.

'70: tied boston for best record, best goal differential; swept by boston in 2nd round
'71: 3rd best record, won the division, 2nd best goal differential; lost in 7 in the finals to the habs
'72: 4th best record, won division; swept by NYR in semifinals
'73: 4th best record, won division; lost in 6 to the habs in the finals
'74: 3rd best record; lost in 6 in semifinals to bruins

If single seasons count then the 1995 Red Wings. Easily.

'96 DRW were better.



other single season teams:

'30 bruins
'31 bruins
'53 DRW
'45 habs (relative to competition)
'80 flyers
'76 flyers
'67 blackhawks
'93 penguins
'01 NJ
'34 TML
'22 senators
'24 senators

 

[poise]

1980's Flyers are the pick in recent memory if we're talking in terms of era. 86 Oilers would be the easy choice for a single season.

Actually the Blues in the dead puck era are a pretty good choice too.

 

[Canadiens1958]

1976 - 80 Bruins

1976-80 Bruins. Flip coaches Cherry for Bowman, Shero or Arbour and you have a cup or two.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

1980's Flyers are the pick in recent memory if we're talking in terms of era. 86 Oilers would be the easy choice for a single season.

Actually the Blues in the dead puck era are a pretty good choice too.

I don't know. The Blues always did well in the regular season but often fell apart in the playoffs.

The 80s Flyers actually seemed to have played well in the playoffs - they just had an Oilers problem.

 

[Trottier]

The 1979 Islanders deserve consideration.

In a perfect world, the dynasty would have commenced one year earlier than it did.

If you are turned on by individual stats, that was arguably the most potent offensive NYI team.

Alas, the Habs had one more in them, and a not-quite-ready-for-primetime Isles team was upset by NYR in the semi-finals.

 

[CanadaBacon]

92-93 Kings should have won the cup


EDIT 92-93 Leafs SHOULD have won the Cup

 

[petrskudra1]

93 Pens

 

[VMBM]

How about 1975-1981 Buffalo Sabres?

Brilliant scoring line (Martin-Perreault-Robert) and even better checking line (Ramsay-Luce-Gare). Maybe there wasn't enough depth anywhere else, but they came pretty close to the cup in 1975, at least. They also played brilliantly vs. Soviet teams (12-6 win over Krylya Sovetov in 1976 and 6-1 win over CSKA in 1980).

 

[Super Fadio Bro]

93 Pittsburgh Penguins
96 and 2006 Detroit Red Wings
2003 Ottawa Senators
Present Day San Jose Sharks

 

[DustyMartellaughs]

The Canucks during the Cloutier era.

 

[Blades of Glory]

Eh, the present day Sharks are good, but not nearly the best team ever in this position. There really is only one Hall of Famer, in his prime, on the roster, and that's Joe Thornton. Rob Blake is going to be in the Hall, but trust me, he's not quite in his prime anymore.

I'll vote for the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins. They had Mario at his very, very best, Jagr was becoming a superstar, and the same team that had won the last two Stanley Cups. Damn you, David Volek, for screwing up a Lemieux vs. Roy Conference Finals. That said, I still think the Habs win, because Patrick Roy was simply not going to let them lose that year.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

1976-80 Bruins. Flip coaches Cherry for Bowman, Shero or Arbour and you have a cup or two.

The Bruins of that time period are generally considered to have over-achieved by a fair degree relative to their talent. A "lunch pail crew" that was more than the sum of their parts. It seems to me that this is usually an indication of good coaching. Why do you feel Cherry was what held them back?

 

[CanadaBacon]

The Bruins of that time period are generally considered to have over-achieved by a fair degree relative to their talent. A "lunch pail crew" that was more than the sum of their parts. It seems to me that this is usually an indication of good coaching. Why do you feel Cherry was what held them back?

Because its Cherry. Cherry cant possible have done anything good hockey related

 

[Big Phil]

Early '70s Rangers for my pick as a team with the best nucleus

 

[finchster]

29-30 Boston Bruins
38-5-1
That is my pick

Two 40 goal scorers when there were only 3 in the NHL that year

 

[tony d]

The 1992-1993 Pittsburgh Penguins

 

[Canadiens1958]

Defense

How about 1975-1981 Buffalo Sabres?

Brilliant scoring line (Martin-Perreault-Robert) and even better checking line (Ramsay-Luce-Gare). Maybe there wasn't enough depth anywhere else, but they came pretty close to the cup in 1975, at least. They also played brilliantly vs. Soviet teams (12-6 win over Krylya Sovetov in 1976 and 6-1 win over CSKA in 1980).

Defense was adequate for the smaller Buffalo rink surface but a bit slow for a regulation surface.

 

[MXD]

The team I had in mind when I "called out" John Flyers Fan was the late'60, early '70 Blackhawks.

I really, but really don't know why some people bring up the '93 Leafs. Probably not a Top-10 SINGLE EDITION of non-cup winning in the first half of the '90ies....

 

[Canadiens1958]

Match-ups

The Bruins of that time period are generally considered to have over-achieved by a fair degree relative to their talent. A "lunch pail crew" that was more than the sum of their parts. It seems to me that this is usually an indication of good coaching. Why do you feel Cherry was what held them back?

Bowman owned Cherry when it came to match-ups / line changes in Montreal where the Bruins went winless during the playoffs for period in question.

In Boston where Cherry had the last change, Bowman still managed to dictate the match-ups.

Now if a coach has not figured out how to counter line match-ups after three series with a grand finale that results in the tying goal being scored due to a "too many men on the ice" penalty late in the third period, most would admit that the coaching had certain serious flaws.

On the other hand the 1995 Devils, a lunch pail crew in many respects,coached by Jacques Lemaire swept the Bowman coached Red Wings in the SC finals Lemaire deftly countered the match-ups winning two games in Detroit.

Another problem that Cherry had was that Bowman was able to dictate the tempo of the games. Tweak lines, powerplay units, etc without a timely response. Slow the game down when the Bruins looked like they could get momentum, accelerate the pace when the Bruins were sagging. Prime example being the Jonathan KO of Bouchard. Bowman did not allow his team to play small afterwards and it became a simple bump in the road. Cherry never managed to counter or do the same.

 

[lextune]

1970-71 Bruins.

 

[Canadiens1958]

1962-67 Blackhawks

The team I had in mind when I "called out" John Flyers Fan was the late'60, early '70 Blackhawks.

I really, but really don't know why some people bring up the '93 Leafs. Probably not a Top-10 SINGLE EDITION of non-cup winning in the first half of the '90ies....

Throw in the 1962-1967 Blackhawks as well.