The Stanley Cup Playoffs are nearly impossible to predict. And as we know, recent Presidents’ Trophy winners have struggled to win the more important team trophy; only two of the previous 10 Presidents’ Trophy winners have also won the Stanley Cup. Anything can happen in a best-of-seven series, including the lesser team prevailing. Even juggernaut regular season teams can be upset if their opponents find a streak of hot goaltending or an unusually high shooting percentage. Seven games is simply too small of a sample size to draw meaningful conclusions.
Therefore, building a surefire Stanley Cup winner is a fool’s errand; it can’t be done. The absolute best any organization can do is to ice a strong team, keep it together for many years and hope that in one of those years the team gets the right breaks and wins it all.
Of course, sometimes, even making the playoffs year after year doesn’t net the Cup. Those teams are incorrectly labeled “chokers” when in reality the small sample size nature of the playoffs is the true culprit. The modern San Jose Sharks are one example. That franchise has done everything possible to win the Cup, but it hasn’t gotten the right breaks. Daniel Alfredsson’s Ottawa Senators are another example.
But going back even further, which teams did everything right but have faded into obscurity simply because they didn’t win the Cup? There are three prime examples from the 1990s.
The first is the Boston Bruins. According to Benjamin Wendorf’s historical possession data, here are the Bruins’ ranks in overall possession from 1987-88 through 1995-96:
1, 4, 3, 4, 4, 1, 1, 1, 2
The Bruins were no worse than the fourth best team in the NHL for nine consecutive seasons. But they didn’t win the Cup, so they’ve faded into the sands of time. What a shame. That Bruins run is remarkable.
Another great, underrated run was the Flyers’ from 1995-96 through 2003-04. In those nine years, in overall possession, here are Philadelphia’s ranks:
4, 2, 5, 2, 2, 4, 6, 2, 5.
Again, over nine consecutive seasons, Philly was no worse than the sixth best team in the league. But sure, let’s exalt the Carolina Hurricanes, who missed the playoffs four out of five seasons from 2002-2008, but who happened to win the Cup the one year they made it.
Finally, toward the end of the St. Louis Blues’ league record 25 consecutive playoff appearances, the Blues put together this stretch of possession ranks from 1994-95 through 2001-02:
7, 8, 8, 6, 1, 1, 2, 1.
The Bruins of the late 80s/early 90s, and the Flyers and Blues of the late 90s/early 2000s could easily have won the Cup and deserve to be remembered as great teams. Only one team out of 30 can win the Stanley Cup, but that doesn’t mean only one team is worthy.
