Did any team ever win the Cup with one of their top players on IR?

[Passchendaele]

With TB getting closer to winning their 2nd Stanley Cup without Stamkos on their roster, I was wondering if that ever happened?

Forsberg in 2001 is the closest I can think of. He missed right about half of the playoffs.

Click to read more...

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

2001 Forsberg is the first to come to mind for me.

1950 Gordie Howe injury is probably the most famous historical one.

1998 Konstantinov probably doesn't count

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

1950 Red Wings won the Cup without Gordie Howe.

 

[Vujtek]

Penguins won in 2017 without their #1 D-man (Letang).

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Penguins won in 2017 without their #1 D-man (Letang).

Duh, can't believe I forgot this one. And given the emergence of Kucherov and Hedman, I'd say that Stamkos is probably about as important to Tampa Bay as Letang was to Pittsburgh.

 

[Staniowski]

89 Suter.....

As talented as he was, I think they were a better team without him.

 

[Staniowski]

59 Beliveau and Rocket...(no prob when you play for an all-star team)

71 Savard

 

[Michael Farkas]

Duh, can't believe I forgot this one. And given the emergence of Kucherov and Hedman, I'd say that Stamkos is probably about as important to Tampa Bay as Letang was to Pittsburgh.

Letang is probably a rung up considering how poor Pittsburgh's puck moving depth was on the back line (the top pair was Brian Dumoulin and rickety old Ron Hainsey [who did fantastic]). Then you factor in that Stamkos is the worst playoff player of this generation...Letang was a bigger deal. Might be nitpicking (unintentionally so) but we're big game hunting in this thread, so it's probably gonna carve itself into some sort of top-5 list...

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Letang is probably a rung up considering how poor Pittsburgh's puck moving depth was on the back line (the top pair was Brian Dumoulin and rickety old Ron Hainsey [who did fantastic]). Then you factor in that Stamkos is the worst playoff player of this generation...Letang was a bigger deal. Might be nitpicking (unintentionally so) but we're big game hunting in this thread, so it's probably gonna carve itself into some sort of top-5 list...

Stamkos worse than Nash?

 

[Michael Farkas]

Yes, sir...for me at least. At least Nash was able to quietly facilitate neutral zone/transition offense towards the end of his days, he really helped turn Chris Kreider loose and in the middle of the rink too, so it brought his best...Stamkos in the playoffs, at best, is a soft, perimeter, power play specialist...the numbers flatter him too, he's not even as good as they would suggest...worse than Nash, worse than Thornton...I legit can't think of a skater who turns into a pumpkin more than him, maybe if Bobrovsky throws up a few more ducks on his zillion contract he'll be here too...

It'll be the most honest and appropriate thing that could possibly happen in this cursed year if Tampa wins it all with Stamkos out of the picture...

 

[quoipourquoi]

I don’t believe Grant Fuhr was dressed for the Oilers’ victories after his injuries in 1984 and 1990.

 

[GMR]

It helped Pittsburgh in 2017 that they were playing Ottawa and Nashville in the Conference Finals and Finals. Two lower seeded teams not exactly loaded with stars. Still, both series were tough from memory. Seven games and six games. That team had a better playoff scoring differential than the 2016 team everyone raves about.

Forsberg in 2001 is impressive. I still think of 2001 as the best Devils team. Shows you how deep and motivated the Avalanche were that year.

The 1950 Red Wings were led in playoff scoring by Gerry Couture and George Gee. Go freaking figure. That team barely won the Cup after two series which went seven games. Pete Babando scored in OT in game 7 to clinch the Cup.

I'm guessing all these teams have an easier path without the injury to the star.

If Tampa is able to finish Dallas, it's as impressive as any playoff run. They've had a lot of players get hurt during this tournament. Not just Stamkos. Lots of long overtime games. I never thought they'd handle Boston in five games. Would be an impressive Cup winner for sure. No asterisk for me.

 

[quoipourquoi]

Given that he is a 2x All-Star and 3x Vezina nominee, would Ben Bishop count?

 

[quoipourquoi]

Three more I had to double-check on: Maurice Richard came back for Game 5 of 1959, Jean Beliveau did not, and Johnny Bower was healthy for Game 6 of 1967 but the Maple Leafs stuck with Sawchuk to finish it out.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

2011 Bruins.

Won it with their #1C on IR, Marc Savard

 

[Dingo]

Love the story of Forsberg begging to play in the Final.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Given that he is a 2x All-Star and 3x Vezina nominee, would Ben Bishop count?

No thanks. Especially playoff Bishop...

 

[BenchBrawl]

Paul Coffey missed a lot of games with Pittsburgh in 1991.

About Richard in 1959: He was 37 years old. He wasn't a Top 5 player on that team any longer. The previous year he had a Smythe run but it was his last hurrah.

 

[LeBlondeDemon10]

Habs were without Cournoyer in 77 and 79 and without Lapointe for the 79 finals.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

i think all the best ones have already been mentioned...

not one of their best players but their second most famous. denis savard in 1993.

petr sykora in 2000.

another fame but not necessarily best: nieuwendyk in 2003.

in addition to marc savard, nate horton in 2011.

(awww that stamkos and his dad anecdote ron just told melted my heart)

 

[Ivo]

2011 Bruins.

Won it with their #1C on IR, Marc Savard

Technically true, but Savard’s career was over by then and I don’t think anyone still thought of him as a top player on the Bruins. The time he did play that season, he wasn’t his old self anymore.

 

[buffalowing88]

2001 Forsberg is the first to come to mind for me.

1950 Gordie Howe injury is probably the most famous historical one.

1998 Konstantinov probably doesn't count

I think the Howe example is spot on...and Detroit was an entirely different defense without Konstantinov. So that means something. But 2001 Forsberg missing always seemed less important to me. That team was stacked. Forsberg was the best player in the game for that year, but they were going to win it in my mind regardless. But yeah, I guess he qualifies, I just don't think his absence was as impactful as the press made it out to be.

 

[ESH]

No thanks. Especially playoff Bishop...

Before this year Bishop had a .929 career sv% in the playoffs

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Technically true, but Savard’s career was over by then and I don’t think anyone still thought of him as a top player on the Bruins. The time he did play that season, he wasn’t his old self anymore.

He was definitely still thought of as a top player for the team that year. His (eventual) career ending concussion was the prior season and he made his big return in the 2010 playoffs scoring the OT winner in game 1 against Philly



He was unfortunately concussed again in the series. The offseason and 2011 season his health was one of the top stories for the Bruins and a lot of "just wait until Savard gets back" and "when will Savard come back". He eventually did come back that year but never got going and was again concussed. We know now with hindsight that it was the end of his career, but at the time it certainly wasnt.

2008-09: 25-63-88
2009-10: 10-23-33 in only 43 games, the concussion year
2010-11: 2-8-10 in only 25 games

Long way of saying he was still seen as one of the top players on the team and everyone was in "cant wait to get him back" mode

 

[Michael Farkas]

Before this year Bishop had a .929 career sv% in the playoffs

Doesn't resonate with or matter to me...he gives up some pretty weak goals through his body at some pretty iffy times...I don't find him to be very reliable in big spots, despite a nice averaging stat...

Since scoring went up the last three seasons (just to try to even the playing field a bit), the goalies that make it deep, don't have the high save percentages...

Vasilevskiy (12th) vs Khudobin (10th)
Binnington (25th) vs Rask (6th)
Holtby (14th) vs Fleury (8th)

Bishop just gets a little frazzled for me in tight spots, it leads to him overplaying the game a little bit...it doesn't seem natural to me. His rebound control, his control when moving laterally, like I said above about pucks going through him...they really tend to deteriorate for me in big spots and that makes him unreliable...