One or two cups

[trick9]

I'll take more Cups and less agony.

 

[Victorious Secret]

As a fan, 2 Cups. As an Owner, 1 Cup and 9 Finals appearances.

 

[Canada4Gold]

2 cups, I'll take the other 8 years of being in the lottery should give me a really quality team coming out of it on top of having more cups to begin with. The 1 cup, 9 finals team is probably on their last legs. On top of not winning as many cups they're now likely going to be a much worse team.

 

[Regal]

I would have so much time to do **** the other 8 years instead of go 2 months with this sense of dread and inevitable disappointment plus I wouldn't have to worry about disappointing my kid when they ask if I'll be home that night or is there hockey. Sign me up for 2 Cups.

Yea, it's funny, as a Canuck fan, the 2011 run, despite the final result, was a pretty fun ride, but by that time it's well into summer and you're still spending half your free time in a bar instead of outside and putting a ton of things on hold, and I kind of realized after that I probably couldn't handle doing it almost every year. Or else it would probably lose it's lustre anyway and I would start missing games.

Of course the other end of it is it's now hard to watch the team and I would at least like some semblance of competitiveness. I think the one cup would be fine if the other years are more of a mix of different runs, and maybe one more finals in there

 

[MikeyMike01]

There’s one cup winner and the rest are losers. Easy decision here.

I’ve some experience with it too as a NY Giants fan, and I wouldn’t trade it for the experience of Rodgers’ Green Bay or Brees’ New Orleans or Manning’s Colts

2 championships > 1 championship

Everything else is irrelevant except championships.

 

[Ace Card Bedard]

Winning is everything.

2 Cups

 

[Highmarker]

I'll take the 2 cups. My team never makes the playoffs anyways, i'm used to it.

 

[1specter]

Why would I want to watch my team get shat on in the final 9 out of ten years? That would literally go down as one of the biggest fails in sports history.

Exactly. I'm not sure if you're actually from Buffalo but if you are it's even more fitting with the failure of the Bills.

 

[North Cole]

Would you rather have 2 cups in 10 years, but miss the playoffs the other 8.

Or

1 cup in 10 years but make the Stanley cup finally the other 9 years.

Rather have the two cups. Being a vikings fan is hard enough, could imagine losing 9 finals... my lord.

Imagine the "choker" label your team would have to endure.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

It depends on when the cup is won. Im okay if we go 4 cup losses and then a cup and then 5 more cup losses. 8 in a row is ridiculous.

Same for the other options. I wouldnt mind seeing a cup every 5 years. But 8 straight years of missing the playoffs is painful. But im sure some fans will take thst

 

[M2Beezy]

As a fan, 2 Cups. As an Owner, 1 Cup and 9 Finals appearances.

Which team do you own??

 

[Thenameless]

Two Cups without even batting an eye. Project this over 50 years, and you get one team with tons of Finals appearances, but only 5 Cup wins - would almost give them a choker label. The other team would have to live with a reputation of major "suckitude", but would have still been able to close the deal an amazing 10 times - in a 30+ team league, this would be an amazing kill ratio.

The team with the 10 Cups would resemble something like the Penguins. They suck for a long time, and then they string a couple of Cups together because of awesome draft luck. I see the team with the 5 Cups as more of a Flyers or a Bruins. Consistently better every year, but with fewer Cups to show for it over the same time period.

At the end of the day, when you look up into the rafters, it's not how many banners you have (Presiden't Trophy, ECF/WCF Champs, Stanley Cups, etc), it really only is about how many Stanley Cup banners you have.

 

[COHawk]

2 > 1 regardless of situation.

Losing in the finals 9 years in a row would be the most demoralizing thing ever. No way I'd want to go through that.

 

[SillyRabbit]

Why would I want to watch my team get shat on in the final 9 out of ten years? That would literally go down as one of the biggest fails in sports history.

How is making the Finals every year for a decade “one of the biggest sports failures of all time?”

It would actually be one of the most impressive accomplishments of all time.

And the team would win a Cup as well so it’s not like they never won, it’s more like sustained success for a decade.

 

[Mestaruus]

Good poll.

I voted 2 cups, but I don't want 2 cups in back to back years, because 4-6 years of no playoffs will harm the franchise too much. If there's like 3 years gap between the cups the fans won't abandon the team and the hype will somewhat stay.

Also depends of the location of the team. In some parts of Canada there would be enough fans even with very little regular season success (regular season success=making it to playoffs). In smaller markets in USA it could be an issue to have many back to back years of no playoff hockey.

 

[treple13]

Making the Finals is more fun as a fan than missing the playoff. HOWEVER, when you make the Finals that many years there are unreal expectations and you are still always falling short. I don't know if that would really be all that fun. You wouldn't enjoy the series wins leading up to the Final anymore.

What is fun is Cinderella runs to win the Cup, which likely happens TWICE to one of those teams. Yeah so that one.

 

[Dingo]

this makes me feel like we should have a tier 2 for teams to get relegated to. So many people just count the Cups, and its better to be shitty and get great draft picks. Relegating teams like the Pens pre-Crosby would sure stop tanking. You should always want to be competitive.

 

[FireGerardGallant]

2 cups

 

[Midnight Judges]

this makes me feel like we should have a tier 2 for teams to get relegated to. So many people just count the Cups, and its better to be ****ty and get great draft picks. Relegating teams like the Pens pre-Crosby would sure stop tanking. You should always want to be competitive.

Well yeah and you would, because nobody ever faces the question in the OP in real life.

The best way to contend is to give yourself a chance every season. Super teams don't always win - as the President's trophy trend indicates.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

This question is essentially asking whether you’d rather be a Capitals fan or LA Kings fan.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

"but make the Stanley Cup Finally the other 9 years"

Uhm what? you mean lose in the cup the other 9 years or make the playoffs in general?

 

[VoluntaryDom]

And if you meant 9 Cup Finals losses, then **** me, that sounds pretty damn painful. That team would be the laughing stock of the league, choking so many times.

Losing in late round = choke now apparently. I guess the Golden Knights choked last year.

 

[Dondini]

"Stanley Cup finally" doesn't sound tempting enough. I'll take the 2 Cups, thank you very much.

That's why you play the game. To win.

You play. To win the game

 

[DrJustice]

I still think about 2013 enough as it is....adding EIGHT more losses to that would require a therapist.

 

[COHawk]

I can't believe how many people voted 1 cup