Worst Team Ever?

[frontsfan2005]

Another brutal OHL team was the 91-92 Guelph Storm, their first season in Guelph after the move from Hamilton. The team went 4-51-11. They had a 16 year old Todd Bertuzzi and 18 year old Alek Stojanov, whose claim to fame is the player the Penguins received in the Markus Naslund deal.

The 82-83 expansion team, Guelph Platers, finished with a 7-63-0 record. Leading scorer was a 16 year old Kirk Muller. Defense and goaltending was a huge issue, as the club allowed 555 goals, which I think is the OHL record.

The 76-77 Oshawa Generals had a miserable 5-57-4 record. Future NHLer Doug Keans was the goaltender, as he was lit up to a 6.63 GAA in 48 games. Weird season though, as the year before and the year after, the Generals were over .500.

 

[iamjs]

Wow. Did anyone good ever play for them (Plattsburgh)??

A few (and I mean very few) players went on to have decent minor league careers.

John Torchetti, who made it as high as the AHL in 1988-89, ended up briefly coaching the Panthers and the Kings right around the first lockout.

 

[Fogelhund]

The 74-75 Caps had good reason to be awful. First of all, the established clubs screwed them, denying them and the Kansas City Scouts even an NHL calibre goalie (the 67 and 70 drafts at least gave the expansion team goaltending).

Along with that, much of the NHL's depth had been stripped away, not only by expansion but also by the WHA.

ADD to that the fact that the player Washington originally chose first in the amateur draft, Pat Price, signed with the WHA before they could sign him. The Caps made a dreadful error when they chose Greg Joly.

There probably wasn't one top 2 forward on that Cap team, although Mike Bloom looked pretty goof before he started getting hurt.

They were awful, no doubt. The first time I saw them was on HNIC in early 75, against Toronto. Davey Keon got the puck at center, saw that Joly and his defense partner were too far apart, and zipped in on a breakaway.

He didn't miss.

Statically they are the worst team of all time.

8–67–5, 21 points, 181 gf, 446 ga... ouch.

Having said that, apparently their first two players drafted in the expansion draft were goalies???

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974–75_Washington_Capitals_season

 

[BobbyAwe]

The 75 caps also have the dubious distinction of having the player with the worst +/- in NHL history, I forget what his name was (can you blame me?) I believe he was -75 in 80 games.

Bill Mikkelson...-82 in 59 games

 

[Mayor Bee]

Statically they are the worst team of all time.

8–67–5, 21 points, 181 gf, 446 ga... ouch.

Having said that, apparently their first two players drafted in the expansion draft were goalies???

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974–75_Washington_Capitals_season

Kansas City had first pick of both goalies and of skaters, so Washington couldn't open up either class of players.

There was also a provision in the expansion draft rules that, once an existing team lost a player, they could move someone from their unprotected list onto the protected list. Montreal exposed Michel Plasse, figuring that once he was gone, they could shift John Van Boxmeer.

I did find an article that pointed out that the Capitals' 22 skaters had a combined 40 goals in the 1973-74 NHL season; Kansas City's 22 skaters had 79 of them, and 19 were from Simon Nolet.

Each existing team in 1974 was allowed to protect 15 skaters and 2 goalies. Montreal, Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles were all exempt from having a goalie claimed (at their option) due to having lost one in 1972 (Phil Myre from Montreal, Gerry Desjardins from Chicago, Dan Bouchard from Boston, Billy Smith from Los Angeles).

[I'm still piecing together the 1974 expansion draft for a separate thread. League procedures at the time make it extremely annoying]

 

[tigermask48]

I think to make things a bit more interesting, only NHL teams with more than five years of existence should be considered. Of course expansion teams are going to be terrible, but which team was the worst without a good excuse?

First, Minnesota and FLorida both had runs to the Conference Finals after 3 years of existing, not all expansion teams are bad, and some start with plans in place and do pretty well.

To your second point of worst team without a good excuse, gotta be Ottawa. Their forst few years in the league were really bad. I think they something like ~30 games the first 3 years they were in the league and just floundered at the bottom with seemingly no plan in place until Martin was brought in. Also maybe Tampa for all the stupid PR stuff they did to try and draw fans.

 

[SealsFan]

The 1974-75 Caps won one road game -- 5-3 at Oakland on March 28, 1975. The win ended a record 37-game road losing skid.

And I was listening to that game over the Caps radio station with the radio next to my bed past midnight in New York, close to tears. That was the game the Caps hoisted a garbage pail around the dressing room as their "cup".

 

[SealsFan]

The 1943-44 Rangers.

6-39-5. 310 goals allowed in 50 games!

Their 6 wins came from three 2-game winning streaks.

Lost their first eleven and were 0-14-1 before their first win.

Their last win came on Jan. 22 and they went 0-17-4 down the stretch.

Seven times they allowed double figures in goals.

They lost 15-0 at Detroit and ten days later returned there and lost 12-2.

The most goals they scored in a game was 9... and they lost that one 10-9 to Boston.

 

[Killion]

The 1943-44 Rangers.

Ya, theres some major suckage right there eh SF? Starting Goalie Ken McAuley with a dazzling 6.24 GAA; a very young Harry Lumley playing a few games before being traded to Detroit where he was nothing short of spectacular. The inimitable Ossie Aubuchon with 16G's. The Warwick brothers, Grant & Billy "The Kid". Bryan Hextall Sr pretty much the teams leader, fairly potent force in the league through the War years, 1940's. Son Dennis Hextall born in 1943 so it wasnt all bad. Young Dennis of going on to a glorious career with.... da Seals. Albert Leroy Moose Marshall? Also born in nineteen hunnert n' forty three. Small World huh?

 

[bmoak]

The 1989-90 Binghamton Whalers. 11-60-9 in the AHL for a team that wan't an expansion team or an "independent" minor league team. The Whale had been Hartford's primary affiliate for a decade but for the past few seasons prior 89-90, Hartford shared the team with the Capitals, who seemed to supply most of the talent.

Hartford's strategy was to go young in Bingo, filling the roster with a lot of 19-21 year olds that were touted as the future of the Hartford Whalers. Jody Hull, Chris Govedaris, James Black, Terry Yake, Blair Atcheynum, Kay Whitmore, Marc Laforge, etc. Hartford pulled their affiliation from Binghamton at the end of the season.

 

[Say Hey Kid]

Chicago Blackhawks

Can you imagine playing with a team and no one on your team can score a goal for eight games? Can you imagine being their coach? Or worse, their fans? Well, the players, coach and fans of the pioneer edition of the Chicago Blackhawks didn’t have to imagine, they lived it. One of the great original six teams went eight games straight without scoring a single goal. Not even by accident. And I wish I could report that it was just a very bad streak but unfortunately for everyone (but their opposition, they were just that bad. In fact, they no doubt have they honor of being the worst NHL team in history. They showed us it is truly possible to be a professional and still not know what you are doing. It was their third NHL season and the Blackhawks won a mere seven games in a 44-game schedule. And yes, during one eight game stretch they were shutout eight straight times. But that’s not all, there were plenty more shutouts to come. Over the course of the season the Hawks were blanked 21 times or almost fifty per cent of the time. Opposing goalies couldn’t wait to face them. During the 1928-29 season, the Blackhawks set records for futility that have lasted for over 70 years. Their “top scorers” certainly must have felt embarrassed becasue they managed only 33 goals for the entire season… combined. Less than one per game.

http://www.ithappenedinhockey.com/2010/05/worst-nhl-team-ever/

Alright, were they bad?

 

[BudMovin*]

1962 Mets.

 

[VanIslander]

I remember how awful the Colorado Rockies were. They were a joke, literally, laughed at whenever their name came up. And us kids couldn't trade, heck, couldn't give away any hockey cards of the team, had to throw them away. I've never come across another NHL team as little respected as the Rockies were.

 

[Michel Beauchamp]

http://www.ithappenedinhockey.com/2010/05/worst-nhl-team-ever/

Alright, were they bad?

But that was in a league where the teams averaged 64 goals in 44 games (1.45 per game).

They gave up 12 goals during these 8 games, earning 2 points because of 0-0 ties.

They had the worst defensive record in the league, their goalie having a 1.85 GAA.

One team managed to score more than 2 goals a game, with a 2.02 average (Boston).

 

[Rob Scuderi]

Ya, theres some major suckage right there eh SF? Starting Goalie Ken McAuley with a dazzling 6.24 GAA; a very young Harry Lumley playing a few games before being traded to Detroit where he was nothing short of spectacular. The inimitable Ossie Aubuchon with 16G's. The Warwick brothers, Grant & Billy "The Kid". Bryan Hextall Sr pretty much the teams leader, fairly potent force in the league through the War years, 1940's. Son Dennis Hextall born in 1943 so it wasnt all bad. Young Dennis of going on to a glorious career with.... da Seals. Albert Leroy Moose Marshall? Also born in nineteen hunnert n' forty three. Small World huh?

Hextall ended up leaving before the 1944-45 season and only played 3 games in 1945-46. The Rangers asked the league to fold because they were absolutely gutted, losing 2/3 of their '42 Cup winning team during the war years, but Red Dutton denied the request. It got so bad that in 1943-44 Phil Watson was loaned to Montreal for four forwards.

 

[Michel Beauchamp]

Hextall ended up leaving before the 1944-45 season and only played 3 games in 1945-46. The Rangers asked the league to fold because they were absolutely gutted, losing 2/3 of their '42 Cup winning team during the war years, but Red Dutton denied the request. It got so bad that in 1943-44 Phil Watson was loaned to Montreal for four forwards.

He did not leave.

He was refused permission to go to the US by the Canadian War Mobilisation Board.

 

[Killion]

He did not leave. He was refused permission to go to the US by the Canadian War Mobilisation Board.

He served in the Army in 44/45, playing OHA Sr., discharged by 45/46 but had health problems, but did finally return in 46/47 with the Rangers. He was the NHL's top Right Winger for a few years there late 30's early 40's prior to Maurice Richards arrival. Shot Left, one of the first to play off-wing.

 

[Mayor Bee]

I remember how awful the Colorado Rockies were. They were a joke, literally, laughed at whenever their name came up. And us kids couldn't trade, heck, couldn't give away any hockey cards of the team, had to throw them away. I've never come across another NHL team as little respected as the Rockies were.

Colorado attendance by year (capacity 16,041)

1976-77 - 8,550 (52.1%)
1977-78 - 8,923 (54.4%)
1978-79 - 6,080 (37.1%)
1979-80 - 9,788 (59.7%)
1980-81 - 8,888 (54.2%)
1981-82 - 8,180 (49.9%)

Yeah, you may be onto something here.

 

[solidmotion]

my friend bought a lanny mcdonald colorado rockies jersey. gets laughs whenever he wears it. even in death that team gets no respect. (personally i think it's a great jersey, immaculately tacky.)

 

[nutbar]

For a sustained period, not too many teams can match the Victoria / Prince George Cougars of the WHL from 1989 to 1996. Just a terrible franchise.

last 5 seasons in Victoria
1989-90: 5-65-2
1990-91: 10-59-3
1991-92: 15-52-5
1992-93: 20-49-3
1993-94: 18-51-3

first 2 seasons in Prince George
1994-95: 14-55-3
1995-96: 17-53-2

 

[Bear of Bad News]

my friend bought a lanny mcdonald colorado rockies jersey. gets laughs whenever he wears it. even in death that team gets no respect. (personally i think it's a great jersey, immaculately tacky.)

I have a Hardy Astrom Rockies' sweater that I wear to Avs games from time to time.

 

[sctvman]

One of their last home games of the 78-79 season, they drew 5,100 for the Canucks. There were probably smaller crowds.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=C34xAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4aEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2837,5235196

 

[SealsFan]

I remember how awful the Colorado Rockies were. They were a joke, literally, laughed at whenever their name came up. And us kids couldn't trade, heck, couldn't give away any hockey cards of the team, had to throw them away. I've never come across another NHL team as little respected as the Rockies were.

In their first season after moving from KC, they were the second-worst team with 54 points. In 77-78, they amazingly MADE THE PLAYOFFS by finishing second in a weak Smythe Division with only 59 POINTS!

From then on they were pretty consistently the worst team except for the year they had 57 points and still finished 25 ahead of Winnipeg!

But I would contend that to qualify for worst team ever, it has to go beyond wins and losses. There has to be the anecdotal factors that accompany the stats, such as the Caps carrying a garbage pail around the dressing room as a "cup" after winning their only road game in 74-75. Or the white pants they briefly wore early in the season (the joke being they had to get rid of them because of the brown stains). Or the Seals being mocked for their white skates and attendance figures that were lower than Colorado's.

But in a delicious bit of irony, the coaches for the Rockies' final season in which they finished last overall with 49 points were... former Seals defensemen Bert Marshall and Marshall Johnston!!!!

 

[SealsFan]

One of their last home games of the 78-79 season, they drew 5,100 for the Canucks. There were probably smaller crowds.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=C34xAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4aEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2837,5235196

Please, don't make me start digging up Seals attendance figures. Or the Cleveland Barons for that matter.

The Barons had a stretch of home games on three consecutive nights (Mon/Tues/Wed) because a game with Buffalo had been snowed out and rescheduled on the Tuesday. The COMBINED attendance for the 3 games was barely 8,000!!

EDIT: They actually played on 4 straight nights, losing at Pittsburgh on Thursday. But they won the three home games before crowds of 2,074, 2,110 and 4,527.

 

[SealsFan]

Let's not forget the Rockies' predecessors, the Kansas City Scouts. The reason they are not often mentioned among the worst ever is because they had the good fortune to enter the league with the Capitals, who eclipsed them in so many ways.

In 74-75, they amassed only 41 points but were still 20 points better than Washington! Strong finishers, they weren't, going 1-15-3 down the stretch.

But the 75-76 season gets even better - only 36 points (but still 4 more than the Caps). Now get this - they beat the Seals on December 28 in Oakland (in front of 4,749)... and won ONE GAME the rest of the season!! After that win they lost 14 straight and finished the year 1-35-8 in their last 44 games!!! (The one win against the Caps)

And in another bit of irony, the two players with the most games logged that year were former Seals Craig Patrick and Gary Croteau. Also on the roster was Dennis Dupere (who played for the record-setting Caps the previous year) and Germain Gagnon (who played for the first-year Islanders). And for fun, Steve Durbano logged 209 PMs in only 37 games.