Recent (?) players winning 3 straight Stanley Cups

[The Panther]

So, with Tampa Bay up 3-0 on Montreal, there's about a 99% chance that Patrick Maroon of Tampa is going to win his third straight Stanley Cup:
2019 - St. Louis
2020 - Tampa Bay
2021 - Tampa Bay (pending)

As he only plays 10 minutes per game and averages 4-5 points per Cup run, you could say he's not a major contributor and he's more fortunate than good, but nevertheless he will win three straight Cups in the salary-cap era.

So, that makes me wonder, who are the most recent NHL players to do this?

The last club to win three straight Cups was the New York Islanders in 1983 (and before that also in 1982, 'cause they won four). So, is it really Denis Potvin, Mike Bossy, and the like who are the most recent players to win three in straight years? Or, is there someone I've forgotten who somehow got onto three straight Cup winners since?

Click to read more...

 

[chrispw1]

I doubt there would be any since the Islanders players as I am pretty sure no one on the teams that repeated since, the 84-85 and 86-87 Oilers, 91-92 Penguins, 97-98 Red Wings or 16-17 Penguins had anyone on a cup team the year before or after. The closest I can think of is Joe Mullen winning three in four from 89-92

 

[DitchMarner]

Maroon: Soon to have three Cups.

McDavid: Still looking for one.


Obvious who carried that duo..


But seriously, Maroon seems like the new Kunitz but not quite as good.

 

[Gurglesons]

No one has done it since the Islanders.


NHL Records

 

[vikash1987]

According to the NHL records, nobody since the Islanders' dynasty has won three Cups in a row: NHL Records

Also, nobody from the Expansion Era has won three Cups in a row with two different clubs.

Maroon has been a big-time, impactful playoff performer throughout his career. Even in a fourth-line role, he has contributed quite a bit for the Lightning. If he does indeed win it again, it couldn't be happening to a better player/person.

 

[GMR]

Marian Hossa came close. Assuming he doesn't leave both Pittsburgh and Detroit after winning.

Would Pittsburgh win the Cup in 1993 if Trottier returned? He wasn't the same player but his veteran leadership wouldn't have hurt.

 

[Kranix]

First player that came to my mind to double check was Cory Stillman, because I remembered he won it with Tampa and then Carolina.. but it was only two in a row.
And of course Claude Lemieux in 95, 96. I'm sure there's a bunch of guys that won two in a row with two different teams, but not three.

 

[The Pale King]

Would you say he's Marooned with the Islanders?

 

[JianYang]

I can't think of anyone in the last 30 years or so.

I guess MAF came close recently with 2 cups in a row, followed by a finals appearance, but that as close to 3 cups in a row that I can think of in recent history.

 

[The Panther]

Would you say he's Marooned with the Islanders?

Your puns aren't just bad...


...they're tear-able.

 

[DeysArena]

What a Maroon!

 

[VanIslander]

Three straight championships against the best?

Makarov.

Oh, you mean only teams in the NHL. My bad.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Marian Hossa came close. Assuming he doesn't leave both Pittsburgh and Detroit after winning.

Would Pittsburgh win the Cup in 1993 if Trottier returned? He wasn't the same player but his veteran leadership wouldn't have hurt.

Hossa lost 2 in a row before getting it in his 3rd straight Final in 2010 with Chicago (lost with Pitt in 08, went to Det and lost to Pitt in 09)

 

[GMR]

Hossa lost 2 in a row before getting it in his 3rd straight Final in 2010 with Chicago (lost with Pitt in 08, went to Det and lost to Pitt in 09)

I know. My point is made the Finals with three different teams in consecutive years. I can't think of another player who did that.

 

[The Panther]

Three straight championships against the best?

Makarov.

Oh, you mean only teams in the NHL. My bad.

I may regret asking this, but what exactly were these three "best" teams in a row that Makarov's team beat?

 

[The Panther]

One other player post-Islanders (just) who came really close to doing this is Toronto native Billy Carroll, who was a regular for the '81, '82, and '83 Islanders, then was put on waivers and picked up by Edmonton in '84 and won the Cup with the Oilers in '85. So, he got four in five years, up to 1985. (And five years in a row in the Finals, because he played 1 game in the '84 Final.)

 

[VanIslander]

I may regret asking this, but what exactly were these three "best" teams in a row that Makarov's team beat?

"Best" lol. Tampa will win the cup against journeymen forwards, one all-time great defenseman and an up-and-down now up goalie.

Makarov scoring 9 points in the 1981 Canada Cup, his team shellacking Canada 8-1 in the final (Gretzky tourney top scorer).

Plus Makarov was on the tourney all-star team in all three gold medal world championship victories 1981, 1982, 1983, despite Larry Robinson top defenseman in the 1981 tourney, Gretzky again tourney top scorer in '82 and Marcel Dionne leading Canada in '83 (no one scored more in the NHL from 1975 to 1985 than Dionne).

Tampa didn't beat teams of the calibre of Canada and Czechoslovakia. Or, at the very least, the "best" teams you assume Stanley Cup champions beat to win the NHL playoffs aren't always the next best teams in terms of talent, just bracketing luck.

Makarov deserves mention, as much as any dynasty team player from the Isles. What more could he have done?

To be perfectly clear, let's look at an example. In the 1982 world championships Team Canada didn't have Shea Weber, but it had Wayne Gretzky, Dale Hawerchuk, Bobby Clarke, Dino Ciccarelli, Darryl Sittler, Mike Gartner, Bob Gainey, Brian Propp, Kevin Lowe. YOU DON'T HEAR ABOUT THESE YEARS BECAUSE CANADA LOST, SO AFTERWARDS THE NHL PULLED ITS BEST PLAYERS OUT. I was there, watching live in middle school, before we Canadians lost again and again and again and chose to forget those years.

Makarov was an all-star selection each of the three years. Many still think Lafleur has nothing on Makarov.

Get to know your HHOFer:

 

[Davenport]

Consider Ab McDonald a footnote on this thread. Had he played a single shift during the 1959-60 playoffs - with the Montreal Canadiens - McDonald would have hoisted the Stanley Cup four straight seasons. He did so in 1957-58 and 1958-59 with the Habs, and then did so in 1960-61 with the Chicago Blackhawks. Ab was still with the Hawks when they returned to the Final in 1961-62. He was with the Detroit Redwings in 1965-66, when they made it to the Stanley Cup Final. In 1968-69 and 1969-70, McDonald was with the St. Louis Blues for their trips to the Final.

Ed Litzenberger did hoist the Cup four straight seasons: 1960-61 with the Hawks, and then three straight seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He left the Habs just before they won five in a row.