What has happened to these recent powerhouse teams? It is truly baffling. They have both seemingly dropped off a cliff without their rosters changing all that much. They have lost some key secondary pieces but nobody major and their cores are still intact.
It makes you wonder if the NHL has become a fluke and we will never see dynasties like their were in the 80's and there are in other sports right now.
Chicago has been getting progressively worse, Lost in 1st round, swept in 1st round, missed playoffs. LA: missed playoffs, embarrassed in 1st round, missed playoffs, swept in 1st round by an expansion team.
It is inexcusable for two teams that have won multiple cups with the same players to just regress into bottom feeders. It is taking the enjoyment out of watching the NHL knowing that there are no truly great teams anymore.
Talk about some massive hyperbole. Hate to break it to you, but the Hawks and Kings both had runs similar length of being a top contender to the Oilers, who dominated from 1984-1990 (giving the Oilers the benefit of the doubt after trading TGO in 1988 and based on them winning the Cup in 1990). The Oilers runs was 7-8 years, which is similar to both the Hawks (slightly longer) and the Kings (slightly shorter).
To say the Hawks have "lost some secondary pieces" is absolutely ludicrous. I know that everyone points to the "star players" as the reason why teams win or lose the Cup, but that's a HUGE cop out. The Kings & Hawks current struggles are predominantly due to the fact that they're getting almost NOTHING from over half their roster. When they were good teams, they were DEEP, and that is no longer the case due to age, the cap crunch, making trades to improve their team in the short term during their windows, and drafting late. For both teams there just aren't guys who are ready to contribute in the roles needed.
For the Hawks, the biggest factor is that key guys who were difference makers have aged and aren't anywhere close to dominant as they were (primarily Toews, Keith, and Seabrook). Those guys are all shadows of what they were, and that is because father time is undefeated.
Do you know why the Pens & Caps won the last 3 Cups? Sure, Crosby, Malkin, AO & Kuzy were all big reasons, but do those team win the Cup without the incredible supporting casts? Do the Caps win last year without Eller, DSP, & Connelly? Do the Pens win without Murray, and all the young guys who were key contributors? The Pens are the best example. They stopped trying to trade for stop gaps (Iginla, etc.) and had a bunch of young players (and reclamation projects like Cullen) who stepped up when needed.
EDIT: Would like to add that while not unexpected, the schaudenfraude in this thread is strong.