A Dozen Teams Still Looking For Their First Stanley Cup

The Tampa Bay Lightning and Chicago Blackhawks may be battling for the right to raise the Stanley Cup this season, but six teams have yet to have had the success to play for that right.

The Arizona Coyotes, San Jose Sharks, Nashville Predators, Minnesota Wild, Columbus Blue Jackets and Winnipeg Jets have yet to find much success in their Quest for the Cup failing to ever reach the finals. They join six teams that have been to there, but have come up short in the end.

The St. Louis Blues came into the league in 1967 and actually made the Finals their first three seasons. From the 1979-1980 season until 2003-2004, they qualified for the playoffs but were unable to capture the elusive trophy. The Buffalo Sabres, first played in the National Hockey League in 1970 making it to the Finals twice in their history. They came close to capturing the Cup in 1999 but were on the wrong end of a call when Brett Hull scored the winning goal, with his skate in the crease, in overtime of game six, capturing the Stanley Cup for the Dallas Stars.

The Vancouver Canuks, also established in 1970, have reached the finals three times in their history coming up short each time. Going the distance the last two times they made the finals. The Washington Capitals began play in the NHL in 1974 and finally reached the finals in the 1997-1998 season only to get swept by the Detroit Redwings.

The victory for the Redwings marked the last time a team captured the Stanley Cup in back to back seasons and completed a stretch where the winning team swept their opponent in four seasons, New Jersey Devils over the Redwings in 1995, Colorado Avalanche over the Florida Panthers in 1996 and the Redwings back to back against the Philadelphia Flyers and Capitals in 1997 and 1998.

In 1992 the Ottawa Senators entered the NHL making it to the finals in the 2006-2007 season, going up against the Anaheim Ducks. Through the first three rounds the Senators had only lost three games, but their luck ran out when they matched up against the Ducks in the finals falling in five games. The current Senators may be searching for their first Stanley Cup, but the original Ottawa Senators won 11 while playing in the NHL from 1917 until 1934.

The Panthers first played in the NHL in 1993 and made the finals in 1995-1996, their third season. In that Stanley Cup Finals they were swept by the Avalanche. Prior to their home opener, a rat scurried across the locker room of Miami Arena, prompting forward Scott Mellanby to one time against the wall killing it. Mellanby then went on to score two goals, to which goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck dubbed it a “rat trick.” Fans later began a tradition of throwing rubber rats on the ice following a goal. The rats thrown went from about 16 in the third game to around 2000 throughout the postseason.

These 12 teams will have to wait at least another year to get their shot at raising the Cup for the first time in their history. The Stanley Cup is one of the toughest trophies to win as it takes years for most teams to find the right chemistry to put together a team destined to go on that nice run.