The 5 Greatest Teams to NOT Win The Stanley Cup
5 Great Ice Hockey Teams That Didn’t Win the Stanley Cup! (But Should Have)
There are some amazing NHL teams that didn’t manage to lift the legendary Stanley Cup, despite extraordinary regular seasons.
Read on to find out about the top 5 greatest teams that missed out on the most coveted trophy in Ice Hockey.
Some of the teams on this list might surprise you!
Tom Wilson playing for the 2010 Washington Capitals
2022-2023 Boston Bruins
The Bruins won game 1, game 3 and game 4 of the Stanley Cup playoffs
This team included David Pasternak, Patrice Bergeron and Pavel Zacha
The 2022-2023 Bruins broke the record for the most points in league history at 135
What Happened in the Stanley Cup Playoffs?
Boston fell to the Florida Panthers in seven games after going up 3-1, but the Bruins definitely didn’t go down without a fight as games 5 and 7 went into overtime.
Their main issue was defence, as the Bruins were outscored 15-11 in the three games.
They lost games 5 and 7 at the clip of 4-3, and they also lost game 6 at 7-5.
Both overtime game-winning goals from the Panthers involved Matthew Tachuck and Carter Verhaeghe. Verhaeghe also got the game-winning assist in game 5 and Tachuck got it in game 7.
In the three games that the Bruins won, they won in a dominating fashion, winning game 1 at 3-1, game 3 at 4-2 and game 4 at 6-2.
Why are the 2022-2023 Boston Bruins One of the Greatest?
The Bruins broke a plethora of NHL records, including the most points in league history at 135. This broke the 1977 Montreal Canadiens record of 132 points.
They also got the most wins at 65, breaking the 1995-1996 Detroit Red Wings record of 62.
When it comes to wins and losses, the Boston Bruins also had other dominating statistics. This included a goal differential of 128, which almost doubled the second-place Dallas Stars at +66.
The Boston Bruins were also dominant on the other side of the puck. Their save percentage between Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman was just below 93% for the season.
Who were the 2022-2023 Bruins top players?
While the Bruins were deep, there is no doubt that their leading scorer was David Pasternak, one-third of the “perfection line”, one of the greatest NHL lines of all-time.
He became only the second Bruin in history to score 60 goals in a season, the other being Phil Esposito. At the season’s conclusion, Pasternak was second in the league in goals to Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, who had 64.
Offensively, the Bruins also had four other 20-goal scorers in captain Patrice Bergeron (27), Jake DeBrusk (27) and Pavel Zacha (21).
On the other side of the puck, Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark were no slouches in goal, and they both averaged 2.1 goals per game collectively.
Even more impressive, Ullmark finished the season by giving up less than two goals per game at 1.89, and he finished at 40-6-1 for the season.
As for Jeremy Swayman, while he only appeared in 37 games during the season, four of those games were shutouts.
1982 Edmonton Oilers
This team included “the great one”, Wayne Gretzky
The Oilers had 111 points during the regular season
The Oilers won game 4 of the playoffs at 3-2
What Happened in the Stanley Cup Playoffs?
While this version of the Edmonton Oilers included the “great one”, they lost to Wayne Gretzky’s future team - the Los Angeles Kings. This is considered one of the greatest upsets in Stanley Cup history.
Even more impressive, the Kings only needed five games to get past Edmonton, a series that turned out to be a marathon scoring-wise, as neither team scored less than two goals in any game.
The Oilers’ one win in the series was actually tied for the lowest-scoring game of the series, which was a 3-2 win in game 4. This was extremely physical as the game had 38 penalty minutes between the two teams.
What Happened to the 1982 Oilers in the Regular Season?
During the regular season, the Edmonton Oilers had 111 points which featured a record of 48-17-15 and had a goal differential that rivalled the Bruins at +122.
Why are the 1982 Edmonton Oilers One of the Greatest?
If this team had existed during their veteran years, you’d think it was more of an all-star team than just the Edmonton Oilers.
The team featured Wayne Gretzky, Glen Anderson, Jari Kurri, Mark Messier and Paul Coffey which gave the team plenty of opportunities!
2010 Washington Capitals
The Canadiens won against the Washington Capitals in the playoffs
The Capitals produced 121 points with a 54-15-13 record in the regular season
This team included Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin
What Happened in the Stanley Cup Playoffs?
The 2010 Washington Capitals lost in seven games to the Montreal Canadiens in the first round and, just like the Bruins, Washington went up 3-1.
Then, Montreal goalie Jaroslav Halak took over for Carey Price in game 5. That turned out to be a correct decision as Washington stayed at only one goal in the remaining three games.
The Canadiens won games 5 and 7 at 2-1 and game 6 at 4-1.
What Happened to the Capitals in the Regular Season?
Washington produced 121 points with a 54-15-13 record.
Why are the Washington Capitals One of the Greatest?
While Washington wasn’t knee-deep in spectacular 40 and 50 goal scorers, they did have seven players who scored seven goals.
This team included Alex Ovechkin, one of the greatest international NHL players. He produced 50 goals and 59 assists, along with Nicklas Backstrom, who had won 33 goals and 68 assists.
Other players that scored during this season include Alexander Semin (40), Mike Knuble (29), Brooks Laich (25) and Eric Fehr (21).
Ovechkin and Backstrom got just enough that it kept the team honest, but they also had to worry about the other scorers too.
1993 Pittsburgh Penguins
This team included Mario Lemieux, Kevin Stevens and Rick Tocchet
The Penguins lost against the Islanders in game 7 of the playoffs
This team had Jaromir Jagr, who is second in history in points behind Wayne Gretzky
What Happened in the Stanley Cup Playoffs?
The Pittsburgh Penguins lost to the Islanders in seven games.
In game 7, they fell behind at 3-1 with four minutes left, but then they showed some signs of life as Ron Francis scored after receiving a pass from Larry Murphy.
Rick Tochett then scored with one minute left to tie the game, taking it to overtime.
However, this didn’t prove to be enough, as the Islanders’ David Volek clinched the series. He scored the game-clinching goal in game 7, 5 minutes and 16 seconds into overtime.
What Happened to the Penguins in the Regular Season?
Pittsburgh produced 119 points with a 56-21-7 record.
Why are the 1993 Penguins One of the Greatest?
The biggest story of this team throughout the year wasn’t their win-loss record or even the fact that they fizzed out in the playoffs.
This was the year that their captain Mario Lemieux was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease, and while he was only able to play 60 games, he made the most of it. He still managed 69 goals and 91 assists.
While he was able to eventually come back the year after this season, he still had to take more time off before he was able to fully recover.
As for the rest of the Penguins, Lemieux was far from the only scorer who was considered elite.
The Penguins had three other 30-goal scorers, as he was alongside:
Kevin Stevens with 55 goals and 56 assists
Rick Tocchet with 48 goals and 61 assists
Jaromir Jagr with 34 goals and 60 assists. He is second in history in points behind one of the greatest athletes of all-time, Wayne Gretzky
2019 Tampa Bay Lightning
The 2019 playoff between Tampa Bay and the Colombus Blue Jackets was one of the biggest meltdowns in NHL playoff history
This team included three 40-goal scorers: Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kutcherov and Brayden Point
Tampa Bay achieved their longest streak during this season, at 10 games
What Happened in the Stanley Cup Playoffs?
The first round of the 2019 Tampa Bay Lightning-Columbus Blue Jackets series could very well be one of the biggest meltdowns in NHL playoff history.
Tampa Bay didn’t just fizzle out, they got demolished in the first round against the Columbus Jackets via a sweep - it wasn’t even close. Three out of the four games were won by two goals or more.
The one game that was close came to 4-3 in game 1. The Blue Jackets won the other three games 5-1, 3-1 and 7-3.
So if they’re so good they deserve to be on this list, what went wrong?
There are many theories - and the Lightning did have a minor case of the injury bug via Victor Hedman. Many critics also blame the coach for some decisions he made during the playoffs.
Unfortunately for both Tampa Bay and Columbus, the Blue Jackets would fall in six games to the Boston Bruins in the second round.
What Happened to Tampa Bay Lightning in the Regular Season?
The Lightning finished the season 62-16-4, which is currently tied for second for the most wins in season history with the 1995-1996 Red Wings and also behind the 2022-2023 Boston Bruins, who had 65.
Why are Tampa Bay Lightning One of the Greatest?
Tampa Bay has always been known for having an elite offence, and they had three 40-goal scorers in Steven Stamkos (45), Nikita Kutcherov (41) and Brayden Point (41)
Just like some of the other teams on this list, they outscored their opponents by more than 100 goals for the season - 325-222 to be exact.
Their longest streak during the regular season was 10 games which started February 9, 2019, when they beat the Penguins 5-4.
It ended on February 28, 2019, when they fell 4-1 to the Boston Bruins.
