Top 5 Underrated Stanley Cup Championship Teams
We’ve all thought about our favorite team or franchise and wondered “what if” they played in another era, another division, or another conference. What if these teams could not have had to go through a certain opponent, would they have been the dynasty? Would this team be an all time team?
Today’s post looks at some great Stanley Cup Championship teams that were not part of dynasties, but had incredible rosters, incredible Championship success, but the success was only for one year. These are the great teams that poked through and reached the mountain top, but are overshadowed by the great teams that played in the same era and time period as they did. These are the TOP 5 Underrated Stanley Cup Championship teams.
#5- 1994-95 New Jersey Devils
This Devils team was the group that finally broke through for the Devils organization after losing in the conference finals the year prior against the NY Rangers. This team was a unique mix of some aging veterans, but also a young core that would go on 5 years later to become a dynasty (winning 2 Cups in 4 years and reaching 3 finals in that same time frame).
The Jacques Lemaire-led 1994-95 NJ Devils was the Trap Devils, defined by their forechecking scheme, but really so much more than that. This team is underrated because it had 3 NHL Hall of Famers (6 if you include their Staff- Lemaire, Robinson and Lamoriello) and 3 more US Hockey Hall of Famers (Carpenter, Broten and Guerin).
On their playoff run, this team went 16-4 and dominated the playoffs, winning the first two rounds in 5 games a piece, 6 games in the conference finals and sweeping the finals against the favored Detroit Red Wings. They were led on offense by Stephane Richer, playing here in New Jersey but was the last Montreal Canadien to score 50 goals in a season, and Claude Lemieux, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner who himself was a former Canadien and winner of 4 Stanley Cups.
This team wasn’t just the “Trap”, they were the 2nd highest goal scoring team in the regular season in 1994-95, and laid the foundation for even more future success for the organization. 4 Players have their Devils numbers retired with the organization- Daneyko, Stevens, Neidermayer, and Brodeur.
#4 1960-61 Chicago Blackhawks
An original 6 underrated squad that begs the question “What If”. What if this group had played in a different time period. What if they weren’t sandwiched between two other dynasty teams?
The 1960-61 Blackhawks broke through immediately following Toe Blakes Montreal Canadiens 1950’s dynasty, the only team in NHL history to win 5 Cups in a row. From 1962- 1964 the Toronto Maple Leafs went on their 3 Cup run, led by Punch Imlach, leaving that slim window for this great Blackhawks squad a year to carry the Cup.
This was the Blackhawks 35th NHL season, and last Cup for 49 years, and the roster was stacked. Future Hall of Famers included Al Arbour, Glenn Hall, Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita, Pierre Pilote, Rudy Pilous (Builder), Tommy Ivan (Builder), and James Norris (Builder). They defeated the Canadiens in the semi-finals and the Gordie Howe- led Red Wings in the Finals. This is a GREAT one- year championship team.
#3 1966-67 Toronto Maple Leafs
The 40th season of the Maple Leafs and the last Leafs team to win it, the 1966-67 Toronto squad was an unbelievable group that found a way to break through at the end of their 3 Cup run in the early sixties. Montreal would win back to back Cups in the years prior to 66-67 and 2 more (back to back) in the 2 years following the 67 championship.
Many members of this 1967 team are in the Hall of Fame including Dave Keon, Frank Mahovlich, Bob Pulford and Tim Horton. This was the last Cup winner in the original 6 era, as the following year welcomed expansion into the league.
The 1966-67 team was an amazing story in many ways. Struggling under the coaching and general manager Punch Imlach, the team limped through a 10-game losing/11-game winless streak at the start of the new year (1967), which to this day remains a Maple Leafs records for futility.
Reportedly from exhaustion, Punch Imlach was hospitalized Feb. 18. The coaching was left to well-liked assistant GM King Clancy. Getting a fresh start, the Maple Leafs went 7-1-2 under the light hand of King Clancy and went 15-6-2 through the final 23 games to get back into the playoff picture.
Keon won the Conn Smythe, as the Leafs defeated the Toe Blake led Canadiens in the finals (their 3rd straight finals appearance).
#2 1985-86 Montreal Canadiens
What a roster on this Canadiens squad!
This group was young and hungry and in a different time period, without having the Islanders, and Oilers dynasties near their peak may have won several more Cups.
This group, which appeared again in the Final in 1988-89 and won in 1992-93, were led by Hall of Famers Larry Robinson, Guy Carbonneau, Chris Chelios, and Bob Gainey, and were supported by an outstanding cast of young rookies including Patrick Roy (Conn Smythe winner), Claude Lemieux, Petr Svoboda and Stephane Richer. Mats Naslund and Bobby Smith led the team in scoring and are players with near Hall of Fame resumes. Smith is a former #1 overall pick, 4 time all star, 1000 point scorer, and Calder Trophy winner.
To win the Final this Canadiens squad won 3 overtime playoff games and swept their rival Bruins in round 1, defeated the Whalers then Rangers, and won the Final versus the Flames in 5 games. They went 15-5 in the playoffs.
This was the Canadiens 23rd Stanley Cup championship and the players on this roster would go on to win Cups later with Montreal (1992-93) and Cups elsewhere including multiple in New Jersey, Colorado, and Dallas.
#1 1988-89 Calgary Flames
What if this team did not have to go through the Edmonton Oilers dynasty every year? What if their was a salary cap in the 1980’s that broke up dynasties like the Islanders, Oilers and top teams like the Flyers, Canadiens, and Bruins?
Joe Mullen, Doug Gilmour, Joe Nieuwendyk, Al MacInnis, Lanny MacDonald, and Mike Vernon are all in the NHL Hall of Fame. Gary Roberts, Theo Fleury, and Gary Suter (US Hockey Hall of Fame) are right on the outside and may get in in the next few years. Haakan Loob, Jiri Hrdina and Jamie Macoun were all top players during their prime as well.
This team went 54-17-9 in the regular season (117 points) and finished 2nd best in NHL scoring AND 2nd best in goals against.
The 1988-89 Flames went 16-6 in the playoffs sweeping the Smythe division final over the Wayne Gretzky led Los Angeles Kings, before defeating Montreal in the Cup Final.
This squad was stacked, and certainly begs the question “What If?”
