Stanley Cup Finals: Some Interesting Facts

After a couple of consecutive victories by the New Jersey Devils, it looks like we just might see the Devils and the Los Angeles Kings play for the Stanley Cup this year.  Who would have predicted that match-up at the All-Star break?  The Kings have been played an excellent team game as have the Devils.  We’re not counting the Rangers out yet, but regardless of who comes out of the East, the 2012 NHL Stanley Cup Finals should be a good one.  We thought that it would be fun to visit some interesting Stanley Cup Finals as compiled by The Hockey Fanatic.

Interesting Stanley Cup Finals Facts

Here is a look at some interesting facts about the Stanley Cup Finals.

  • Last year when the Vancouver Canucks hosted the Boston Bruins for game seven, it was the 16th Game 7 played in the Stanley Cup Final since 1914.
  • In March 1894, the first championship series for Lord Stanley’s Cup was played in Montreal.  The Montreal AAA team defeated the Ottawa Generals in the championship round of the tournament that was to become the Stanley Cup playoffs.
  • The New York Rangers ended a 54 year drought with a game seven victory of the Vancouver Canucks in 1994.  The worst part of it?  No more “1940” chants from opposing Rangers fans (i.e. New York Islanders fans) anymore.
  • Until the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Cup in 2004, Dave Andreychuk finally got to hoist the holy grail after playing the most regular-season games without a Cup in NHL history.
  • The Edmonton Oilers were the first eight seeded team to ever advance to the Stanley Cup Finals when they went to the show against the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006.  The Oilers lost to the ‘Canes in game seven and I still have trouble sleeping as a result.
  • In the 1954 Finals, Detroit’s Tony Leswick’s shot went off the glove of Canadiens defender, Doug Harvey and into the net behind Gerry McNeil at 4:29 of overtime in game seven to give the Red Wings the Cup with a 2-1 victory.
  • In 1942, the Leafs and Red Wings were involved in game seven which saw the Red Wings blow a 3-0 lead in the final series.  The Wings were up 1-0 in the third period when the Leafs stormed back to win the game 3-1 and capture the Stanley Cup for the first time in a decade.
  • Mark Messier (my favorite player of all time) is the only player to captain two different teams to a Stanley Cup championship. He captained both the Edmonton Oilers and the New York Rangers to championships.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets, Phoenix Coyotes, Winnipeg Jets, Nashville Predators, San Jose Sharks, and the Minnesota Wild are the only modern teams to have never played in a Stanley Cup Finals series.
  • 1939 marked the first time that a team had to win four games to capture the Stanley Cup.  That year it was captured by the Boston Bruins with a 4-1 series win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
  • From 1956-1960, the Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup in five consecutive years.  This is the only time this has happened.
  • Only two teams currently in the NHL have never lost in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Colorado Avalanche made two appearances, winning the Stanley Cup in both 1996 and 2001, while the Tampa Bay Lightning won their only appearance in the Finals in 2004.
  • As of 2012, it will be 18 years since a Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup (Montreal 1993).  This is the longest drought since the Stanley Cup was first awarded.  It just doesn’t seem right does it?
  • The Vancouver Millionaires defeated the Ottawa Senators in 1915 to capture the city’s only Stanley Cup
  • Ten Canadian cities have played home to Stanley Cup Champions since its inception.
    • Montreal
    • Winnipeg
    • Ottawa
    • Quebec City
    • Kenora
    • Toronto
    • Victoria
    • Vancouver
    • Edmonton
    • Calgary
  • Every 13 years, a new ring is added to the bottom of the Stanley Cup to add more names of the Cup’s winners.
  • Henri Richard of the Montreal Canadiens is the winningest player in the history of the game with 11 (yes 11) Stanley Cup championships.  One ring for each finger and an extra one in cases he loses one.
  • Patrick Roy was named the Conn Smythe winner as playoff MVP on three occasion.  This is more than any other player.
  • As the story goes, in 1905, a team from Dawson City, Yukon traveled for over three weeks (23 days in total) by dogsled, boat and train to Ottawa to play for the Stanley Cup against the Ottawa Silver Seven. After finally arriving in Ottawa, the Dawson City team experienced a slight setback in both games losing 9-2 and 22-3.  A player on the team was overheard saying that the trip was still worth it.
  • Teams that have appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals but never won the Stanley Cup: the Vancouver Canucks (three appearances), St. Louis Blues (three appearances), Buffalo Sabres (two appearances), Florida Panthers (one appearance), Los Angeles Kings (one appearance – second appearance in 2012), Ottawa Senators (modern) (one appearance) and the Washington Capitals (one appearance).
  • 2011 was the first time that two different Original Six teams have won the Stanley Cup in back-to-back years since 1993-94 when the Canadiens won in ’93, and the New York Rangers followed that up with a Cup victory a year later. Prior to that, the last time two different original six teams won the Cup in back-to-back seasons was when the Habs won in 1973, one year after the Boston Bruins won the Cup in 1972.  Should the Rangers win it in 2012, this would be the first time since the early seventies that an original six team will have won the Cup three years running.
  • During 1984-1990 Canadian teams won the Stanley Cup seven straight years with Edmonton winning five of those Championships.  1962-1969 saw Canadian teams win the Stanley Cup on eight consecutive occasions the longest such streak since the NHL was created in 1927.
  • Excluding expansion teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs currently endure the longest duration between Stanley Cup championships currently at 45 years.

With that we hope you enjoy our first installment of our Stanley Cup Finals facts.

Here is a great list of Stanley Cup Champions, the team that they defeated and the playoff MVP since 1911.