Which Is Worse: No Cups In 52 Years Or No Series Wins In 15 Years?

[seancolorado]

Winning a Cup is hard. Series win for sure is worse

 

[BeastoftheEast85]

Winning a cup today is 1/31. Winning a series is more than 1/4. I know these odds have changed quite a bit over the last 50+ years but I still think the not winning a series in 15 years is more pitiful.

 

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

To quote some wise Leaf fans in the Marner vs Matthews thread: "No need to choose, we have both"

 

[7even]

No playoff series wins. You can ice a competitive team that’s fun to watch, but doesn’t quite get over the hump to win the cup. Not winning a single series means you aren’t even close though

It's also just not entertaining. Like damn at least tease me.

 

[CharasLazyWrister]

I voted “no playoff series wins in 15 years”.

First reason is personal: I’m 30 years old and don’t remember anything before ~1993 anyways. So, the “no Cup wins” of course means less to me.

As well, plenty of original 6 teams have had very long droughts without Cup wins. Red Wings went something around 40 years before the ‘97, the Bruins went 40 before ‘11, the Blackhawks were a long time. The Rangers only have one since...whenever. Winning the Championship (especially now with 31 teams) should not happen with much frequency and even though 52 years is a long time, I don’t consider it that abnormal.

Not winning a series since before the lockout? Sharing that category with the one and only...Florida Panthers? Yeah, that’s embarrassing for a hockey driven Canadian city.

 

[The Nuge]

At the end of the day, it's a game. We do this to enjoy ourselves.

Trophies are just a means to an end.

I'm a Yankees and a Giants fan, and I would argue the Yankees have been far more enjoyable the last 10-15 years even though the Giants have two championships.

The Yankees are consistently interesting whereas the Giants have been miserable outside of those two seasons.

Agree 100%. Unless you just wait until the playoffs, and jump on a bandwagon, most of your enjoyment is coming in the regular season. I’d gladly watch a team like the Sharks who are competitive every year, but can’t win a cup.

It's also just not entertaining. Like damn at least tease me.

Exactly. It’s what makes it so hard to be an Oiler fan right now. When your team is out of it from the start, it’s hard to get enjoyment

 

[Fugazy]

No cup in 52 years would give me more anxiety.

 

[Taluss]

No playoff series wins

There's still teams with no cups

 

[tony d]

The playoff series wins.

 

[SheldonJPlankton]

Both facts point to a team culture that embraces mediocrity and lacks any self-respect, proper teamsmanship, and individual character.

I'll go with the 'Cup run...since it lasts 3.5 times longer in duration and nearly everyone agrees that the whole goal of any respectable team in any competitive season is to win the 'Cup.

 

[BlueDream]

i say no cup for 52 ! ask not just Leaf fans but also Blues fans how fun it's been waiting and waiting for a cup win !!

Yeah as a Blues fan it sucks but I don’t know what it’s like to be, say, a Panthers fan. Haven’t they gone over 20 years without winning a series? That’s gotta be brutal. I would have gone through my whole life not ever seeing a good team. That’s gotta be worse.

 

[Pyrophorus]

They're pretty close to be honest. There's going to be stretches of teams not winning a cup, especially in a salary cap era. I think it's bad for a team like Toronto to not make the finals since 67 while having being able to ice a very expensive lineup relative to their peers.

Harold Ballard say what?

 

[Pyrophorus]

It's hard to believe its the same team.

In a way, its not.

 

[Pyrophorus]

No cup in 52 years would give me more anxiety.

So you had a lot...

 

[SheldonJPlankton]

Yeah as a Blues fan it sucks but I don’t know what it’s like to be, say, a Panthers fan. Haven’t they gone over 20 years without winning a series? That’s gotta be brutal. I would have gone through my whole life not ever seeing a good team. That’s gotta be worse.

STL at least won the President's Trophy and Florida was a 'Cup finalist...so at the very least both those teams can claim some sort of past regular season/playoff success.

 

[al secord]

There both bad.Glad i'm not a fan of a team that has those stats.

You should be a bigger fan of spelling.

 

[Dan Kelly]

STL at least won the President's Trophy and Florida was a 'Cup finalist...so at the very least both those teams can claim some sort of past regular season/playoff success.

Don’t forget the Blues were cup finalists the first 3 years of their existence!

 

[CraigsList]

No series wins in 15 years for me. I think if you can’t get past the first round, it’s hard to think that you’ve had a good season when you only had a week and a half - two weeks of more hockey than the teams that didn’t make it at all. Top that off with not having any kind of draft lottery odds, and a mid 1st round pick that you would’ve preferred to be in the 28th-31st slot.

As a Flames’ fan, it’s hard to get past the first round. And it can be super frustrating.

 

[McDavidCrushedLarkin]

To quote some wise Leaf fans in the Marner vs Matthews thread: "No need to choose, we have both"

 

[Puck Dogg]

There's still teams with no cups

12 in total, which is roughly 1/3rd of the league. The amount actually surprised me.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Don’t forget the Blues were cup finalists the first 3 years of their existence!

Yeah, but they haven't been back since.....at least I don't think they have?

More recent than Toronto, at any rate, and the Blues have definitely made some deep runs in the last twenty years or so.

Not sure what Toronto's Achilles Heel is or why they just can't seem to get over that hump. 52 years without even appearing in a Cup final, and 15 years of not seeing the second round of the playoffs.

As Mike Babcock once said, "there will be pain".....although now it kind of seems like after four seasons at the helm he's not really making it any less painful for those poor Leafs fans.

 

[Pyrophorus]

STL at least won the President's Trophy and Florida was a 'Cup finalist...so at the very least both those teams can claim some sort of past regular season/playoff success.

Looking at the 13 banners...

 

[Eternal Leaf]

I'm 27, so the 52-year cup streak isn't something that bothers me. I'm sure someone who has sat through the entire streak may have a different opinion!

But the 15-year drought is worse.

 

[SniperHF]

Having experienced both (well not the 52 years part but the no cups part)
No cups is worse.

I'd probably be one of those self hating sports fans if not for the 2001 Diamondbacks, the AZ sports landscape is basically a wasteland otherwise.

 

[CraigsList]

Having experienced both (well not the 52 years part but the no cups part)
No cups is worse.

I'd probably be one of those self hating sports fans if not for the 2001 Diamondbacks, the AZ sports landscape is basically a wasteland otherwise.

Having lived in AZ for most of my life, Arizona definitely has it rough when it comes to sports. Moved there in 2004, so I basically saw no championships won from them. From any franchise.