Saddest Franchise Fall from Grace: Detroit, Toronto, NY Isles, or Edmonton?

The Panther

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Mar 25, 2014
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Kind of connected to my other thread (which was resurrected today) about franchise failures. But this time: Which previously successful / awesome / dynastic / iconic franchise had the saddest fall from grace?

My selections to choose from:

Detroit Red Wings
Grace period: 1942 to 1957 (still competitive, on-and-off, from 1957 to 1970)
Fall from Grace: 1970 to 1986
The Wings' sixteen-year fall will be forever known as the 'Dead Wings' era. During this heinous period, they had exactly one winning season (and none whatsoever from '73 to '86... ouch!). From 1971 to 1983, they made the playoffs... once. The team actually reached its low-point in 1985-86 (at .250) just before recovery began when the Ilitches hired Jacques Demers, who made Steve Yzerman captain.

Toronto Maple Leafs
Grace period: 1940 to 1951, and again roughly 1959 to 1967 (still somewhat competitive from 1967 to 1979)
Fall from Grace: 1979 to 1992
The Leafs' thirteen-year fall will be forever known as the 'Ballard' era, when the team itself was often called the 'Maple Laughs'. The sexist, homophobic, profane majority owner (Ballard) drove the franchise into the ground safe in the knowledge that no matter how awful the team was, the loyal fans would still fill the building and guarantee revenue (which indeed they did). This horror-show thirteen year period featured no seasons with the Leafs over .500, with the 1984-85 (.300) season perhaps being the nadir.

New York Islanders
Grace period: 1975 to 1984 (still competitive from 1984 to 1988)
Fall from Grace: 1988 to 2001
The post-Potvin Islanders fell to .381 in 1988-89 (Billy Smith's last season) and didn't really recover until 2001-02. This wretched period included no fewer than seven seasons with a win-percentage in the .300's. The latter part of this era was topped-off by GM Mike Milbury's remarkable capacity for trading away young talents and signing/drafting ordinary players. (However... out of nowhere, the 1992-93 Isles had a decent season and took down the defending Cup champs in the second round, before losing in the Conference series. So, there was that.)

Edmonton Oilers
Grace period: 1981 to 1992 (still competitive from 1996 to 2006)
Fall from grace: 2006 to 2019 (ongoing)
The post-Dynasty Oilers fell badly circa 1992 to 1996, but this was mainly down to lack of revenue, not team management. They recovered, and made a Cup-run in spring 2006. Since then, they've been the worst team in the NHL, cumulatively, over an almost 13-year period, despite four 1st-overall draft picks in six years. The usual revolving door of coaches and GMs has highlighted this dark era. Superstar Connor McDavid is about to miss the playoffs for the third time in four years, while the franchise as a whole will do so for the twelfth time in thirteen seasons (2016-17 being the lone, brief, bright spot).



In short, then, which franchise (has) had the saddest fall from grace?
 

GMR

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Montreal for me. How many Conference Finals have they even been to since 1993? They were higher than anyone else and so they’ve fallen farther than anyone else.

Out of your choices, I’d pick Toronto. The 1980’s was a disastrous decade for them, magnified by the success the other Canadian teams had.
 
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MXD

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Oct 27, 2005
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Montreal for me. How many Conference Finals have they even been to since 1993? They were higher than anyone else and so they’ve fallen farther than anyone else.
They have more than the Red Wings for this current decade, that's for sure.
 

BenchBrawl

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Jul 26, 2010
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I agree it's Montreal, because they fell from higher and they fell very hard.It's embarassing.

Recently I checked and since the 97-98 season Montreal was the franchise with the least players who were playing at a PPG pace in any given season, with a grand total of one: Kovalev in 07-08.No one else did it.
 

MXD

Original #4
Oct 27, 2005
50,668
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I agree it's Montreal, because they fell from higher and they fell very hard.It's embarassing.

Recently I checked and since the 97-98 season Montreal was the franchise with the least players who were playing at a PPG pace in any given season, with a grand total of one: Kovalev in 07-08.No one else did it.

Ehhh... The thing is -- by the time the alleged fall started (1993), they had already began to... let's say, slide downwards. This wasn't 1980 anymore. And the fall wasn't hard, because they had won like 2 Stanley Cups, bowed down once in the SCF made made the Conference finals at least twice. But it was still a slide.

... And using PPG is pointless. The Trashers had quite a bit of PPG players. They also won a grand total of zero playoff games while still playing in Atlanta.
 

BenchBrawl

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Jul 26, 2010
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Ehhh... The thing is -- by the time the alleged fall started (1993), they had already began to... let's say, slide downwards. This wasn't 1980 anymore. And the fall wasn't hard, because they had won like 2 Stanley Cups, bowed down once in the SCF made made the Conference finals at least twice. But it was still a slide.

... And using PPG is pointless. The Trashers had quite a bit of PPG players.

Going downslide is one thing, but they still won two Stanley Cups in 13 years, plus the 1989 run.

Using >PPG is not pointless.I understand the arbitrariness of the stat, and it's varying meaning from season to season, but on a global level, if you're dead last in the league for players who had season at a PPG pace, it tells you something in a spectacular way.

How many players had a season where they were playing at a PPG pace (20 games min)

(Since 97-98, included)

Anaheim: 20 seasons over PPG
Arizona: 4 seasons over PPG
Boston: 14 seasons over PPG
Buffalo: 8 seasons over PPG
Calgary: 14 seasons over PPG
Carolina: 9 seasons over PPG
Chicago: 11 seasons over PPG
Colorado: 23 seasons over PPG
Columbus: 5 seasons over PPG
Dallas: 15 seasons over PPG
Detroit: 17 seasons over PPG
Edmonton: 11 seasons over PPG
Florida: 5 seasons over PPG
Los Angeles: 12 seasons over PPG
Minnesota: 3 seasons over PPG
Montreal: 1 season over PPG
Nashville: 3 seasons over PPG
New Jersey: 15 seasons over PPG
NY Islanders: 6 seasons over PPG
NY Rangers: 8 seasons over PPG
Ottawa: 24 seasons over PPG
Philadelphia: 20 seasons over PPG
Pittsburgh: 46 seasons over PPG
San Jose: 14 seasons over PPG
St. Louis: 10 seasons over PPG
Tampa Bay: 20 seasons over PPG
Toronto: 14 seasons over PPG
Vancouver: 15 seasons over PPG
Washington: 29 seasons over PPG
Winnipeg/ATL: 13 seasons over PPG

It's just a pathetic lack of offensive power.If anything else, the fans deserve better.I like great defensive play, but the heart of entertainment remains offense.
 

MXD

Original #4
Oct 27, 2005
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Going downslide is one thing, but they still won two Stanley Cups in 13 years, plus the 1989 run.

Using PPG is not pointless.I understand the arbitrariness of the stat, but on a global level, if you're dead last in the league for players who had season at a PPG pace, it tells you something in a spectacular way.

The idea was that, in 1993, you're nowhere near as high as 1980.
And I think you're better off having no PPG players and winning some playoff games vs. having quite a lot of PPG players and not winning a single playoff game.
 
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sr edler

gold is not reality
Mar 20, 2010
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New Jersey Devils fall from grace even included a swan song in 2012.
 

BenchBrawl

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The idea was that, in 1993, you're nowhere near as high as 1980.

Yeah but between 1955 and 1980 Montreal had an unprecedented level of success that might never be replicated (I mean... 15 SCs in 25 years and a full rebuild in-between, just absurd).Obviously you're going to fall down.But never as low as after like 1996.Complete desert.Antartica.
 

The Panther

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Could we get back on topic? Montreal doesn't belong anywhere near this. The longest run of losing seasons they've had since 1992-93 is one. In no way does that compare with the four I listed above.
 

GMR

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Could we get back on topic? Montreal doesn't belong anywhere near this. The longest run of losing seasons they've had since 1992-93 is one. In no way does that compare with the four I listed above.
In many ways, that kind of makes the point. Since when did Montreal judge its success based on how many consecutive losing seasons they've had? Ask yourself this. How many teams since 1993 have been to fewer Conference Finals than Montreal? Not very many.

Out of your list, I picked Toronto but I'm thinking about changing my vote to the Islanders. I don't think their fall from grace has really ended, though they're having success this season. They haven't won many playoff series in the last 20 years and can't seem to find an arena that suits them. Then there was the Spanos thing, the Yashin contract, DiPietro, etc.
 
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Hobnobs

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Nov 29, 2011
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I agree with @MXD Habs didnt fall from grace. They simply slid into the mediocrity. With a few ups and a lot of downs.

I'd say Red Wings of the choices. Because that wasnt just a fall. It was complete Darkness. We are talking about going from cup finals to sometimes barely beating some of the worst expansion teams in the league and sometimes losing big to them...

And when there was a little bit of light in the tunnel after Sid Abel stepped in as head coach and the team got a winning season we got the nail in the coffin... Abel was replaced with Harkness...
 

MadLuke

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Jan 18, 2011
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How many teams since 1993 have been to fewer Conference Finals than Montreal? Not very many.

According to this:
NHL.com - Stats

They had 8 wins or more in the playoff only 2 times since then.

Montreal: 2
Boston: 2
Blues: 2
Canucks: 2
Caps: 2
Flames: 1
Oilers: 1
Panthers: 1
Wild: 1
Preds: 1
Coyotes:1

About 10 teams did it has many or less times than them.

And other way to look at it, since 92-93 they are 19 in playoff wins, that even worst than the Leafs 63 and #13 in regular season wins.

That around mediocre in a 30 teams league, but not much worst than mediocre if it is.

But I agree with the lack of top end offensive talents, some season were Rucinsky-Petrov-Brunet were kind of our top scorers because Koivu was always injured were really pathetic, outside Kovalev one season and some of Koivu when he was playing we kind of never had an offensive talent since the days Turgeon/Reechi/Damphousse left, the attention have been so much on the goaltender for decades, that arguably make it worst, when you do not have success but see a Kowalchuk/McDavid play it must be nicer.
 

vadim sharifijanov

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Oct 10, 2007
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definitely montreal. there was such an incredible continuity dating back to the punch line and beyond, a tradition, so much pride, and a methodology to boot. fantastic development system and scouting, no decade without a cup; that sweater meant something to every generation of a family in that city. to you from failing hands...

and then

upload_2019-2-12_14-35-41.jpeg


compared to that, wgas about your crummy little team’s single generation golden age, subsequent pathos, or ongoing persecution complex?
 

HawkNut

Registered User
Jun 12, 2017
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I'm picking Toronto.

It's one thing to have problems on the ice. Ballard conducted himself in an ignorant and disgraceful way to Bernie Parent, Dave Keon, Lanny McDonald and Darryl Sittler.

Ballard was an epitome of greed. He essentially was your stereotypical greedy owner on steroids.

Toronto simply could not draft well during much of the 1980s.

Plus, there's the whole Maple Leaf Gardens scandal, too.

Detroit recovered. The Islanders are contenders this season. Edmonton is a sad franchise, but Toronto hasn't even been to the Stanley Cup Finals in the expansion era.

One of those reasons is Harold Ballard, a stain on the game and the Hall of Fame.
 

Reality Check

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May 28, 2008
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Montreal hasn't won a cup, nor even reached the Cup Finals in over 25 years. Even worse, they've only managed to reach the conference finals twice in 25 years.

That certainly qualifies as a fall to be mentioned.

But of the four mentioned, it's the Islanders. Only two second round appearances and one conference final since '88. 2006 was a fluke run for Edmonton but that's still a Cup finals appearance. Which is more than Toronto can say despite more sustained playoff appearances with a vastly higher payroll.
 
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FerrisRox

"Wanna go, Prettyboy?"
Sep 17, 2003
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Kind of connected to my other thread (which was resurrected today) about franchise failures. But this time: Which previously successful / awesome / dynastic / iconic franchise had the saddest fall from grace?

Toronto Maple Leafs
Grace period: 1940 to 1951, and again roughly 1959 to 1967 (still somewhat competitive from 1967 to 1979)
Fall from Grace: 1979 to 1992
The Leafs' thirteen-year fall will be forever known as the 'Ballard' era, when the team itself was often called the 'Maple Laughs'. The sexist, homophobic, profane majority owner (Ballard) drove the franchise into the ground safe in the knowledge that no matter how awful the team was, the loyal fans would still fill the building and guarantee revenue (which indeed they did). This horror-show thirteen year period featured no seasons with the Leafs over .500, with the 1984-85 (.300) season perhaps being the nadir.

New York Islanders
Grace period: 1975 to 1984 (still competitive from 1984 to 1988)
Fall from Grace: 1988 to 2001
The post-Potvin Islanders fell to .381 in 1988-89 (Billy Smith's last season) and didn't really recover until 2001-02. This wretched period included no fewer than seven seasons with a win-percentage in the .300's. The latter part of this era was topped-off by GM Mike Milbury's remarkable capacity for trading away young talents and signing/drafting ordinary players. (However... out of nowhere, the 1992-93 Isles had a decent season and took down the defending Cup champs in the second round, before losing in the Conference series. So, there was that.)

In short, then, which franchise (has) had the saddest fall from grace?

Seems a little odd, and perhaps, arbitrary, that the Maple Leafs end their fall from grace by going to the Conference Final in 1993, yet that same year the New York Islanders also go to the Conference Final, and yet listed as one of their "fall from grace" seasons.

How do you justify that?
 

FerrisRox

"Wanna go, Prettyboy?"
Sep 17, 2003
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Toronto, Ontario
I agree it's Montreal, because they fell from higher and they fell very hard.It's embarassing.

Recently I checked and since the 97-98 season Montreal was the franchise with the least players who were playing at a PPG pace in any given season, with a grand total of one: Kovalev in 07-08.No one else did it.

Who cares? You've tried to beat this drum before ... I think it means a lot more to you than it does to anyone else. The amount of point-per-game players a team produces has minimal, at best, affect on their ability to win hockey games and win championships.
 
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Thenameless

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Apr 29, 2014
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Could we get back on topic? Montreal doesn't belong anywhere near this. The longest run of losing seasons they've had since 1992-93 is one. In no way does that compare with the four I listed above.

Panther, the people above are being honest and genuine when they go with Montreal. A fall from grace is relative. A career criminal for robberies doesn't really fall very far if he goes on to being convicted of multiple murders. But, when you're talking about a very public hero and all time great like OJ Simpson, then things are very different.

One little cool tidbit for hockey trivia guys is that Montreal always won the Cup in the "sixes". 1946, 1956, 1966, 1976, and 1986. In the spring of 1996, I told my boss (also a hockey fan) about this unusual fact, and asked him what he thought of the Habs chances. He said "I think it gets broken this year." Now, 1996, 2006, and 2016 have passed. A fall from grace indeed.
 
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