What is intended to be an unbiased exercise using “just the numbers” to rank the greatest NHL teams of all time may read as a glowing, subjective homage to the team from the city of Montreal. That’s merely a coincidence. The Montreal Canadiens have been that good.
With 24 Stanley Cup championships, the “Habs” (as they are often called to shorten the French term "Les Habitants") are the Yankees, Celtics, or UCLA basketball of the hockey world.
Greats like Maurice “Rocket” Richard, George Vezina, Toe Blake, Doug Harvey, Jacques Plante, Dickie Moore, Ken Dryden, Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson, and Patrick Roy give Montreal a rich history that spans almost 100 years and includes Stanley Cups in every completed decade since the 1910s.
Ultimately six Habs teams made our list of top 10 Stanley Cup champions. Four of them come from the 1970s when Scott Bowman coached Lafleur, Robinson, Dryden, and others to five championships in seven seasons. Which of these was the best? Which other franchises make appearances among the best? How good are the teams from this decade?
Determining the top 10 Stanley Cup champions
To answer these questions and more we called on the WhatIfSports.com computer. To come up with the list of top 10 Stanley Cup champions in as fair a manner as possible, we “played” all previous winners against all of the other championship teams 100 times each -- 50 at home and 50 away.
Playoff rules were used, so every game ended in either a win or a loss. Also, every team played with its number one goalie for all 7,500-plus games. Teams are ranked by winning percentage from those games.
With one dynasty dominating the Top 10 Stanley Cup Champions list, how some other teams fare is of note. Unfortunately for the Chicago Blackhawks, one of the “original six” teams, two of its three Cup-winning teams appear in the “bottom 10,” including the 1937-38 squad that finishes in last, winning just 15% of the time.
Of those just missing the cut between 11 and 25, two—the 1972-73 Habs at No. 16 and 1980-81 Islanders at No. 14—complete the dynastical runs of the teams below.
Three franchises, the Canadiens, the Islanders and the Oilers actually account for 14 of the top 25. Recent teams in that range include the 1991-92 Pittsburgh Penguins at No. 22, the 2001-02 Detroit Red Wings at No. 17 and the 1993-94 New York Rangers at No. 12.
Some other notable teams outside of the Top 10 Stanley Cup Champions list are the 1947-48 Toronto Maple Leafs at No. 33, the 1951-52 Detroit Red Wings at No. 21, the 1938-39 Boston Bruins at No. 20, and the 1988-89 Calgary Flames at No. 15.
comments (7) write a comment »
write a new comment
7 months ago
interesting what the stats show
7 months ago
There was just too many talented players all around Habs history. Many of them were not named in this piece but also were an important part of those teams.
7 months ago
Great read and very interesting indeed.
Montreal was such a powerful dynasty, yet the Oilers dynasty seems to overshadow it in some cases because of Gretzky. Edmonton may have had a great core of All-Star players same as Montreal, but they had the greatest of all-time. It's always hard picking between the 1983-84 Oilers and the 1975-76 & 1976-77 Canadiens. Always a trivial discussion.
7 months ago
Isn't the reason the Habs won so many cups is because they wouldn't allow any of their home grown players to play anywhere else.
The NBA was similar in its early years selecting players - they were called "Territorial Picks" that was a rule that the 76ers used to draft Wilt Chamberlain.
from 7 months ago
To Ron:
The habs lost the right to keep their home grown players after the NHL-expansion in 1967.
Before 1967, all 6 teams had the right to keep the home grown players. They all lost that right in 67.
10 of the 24 cups Montreal won were after the NHL expansion.
Anyways, if you notice from the names of the players in the 70s team, many of them are not french canadians!
7 months ago
To Ron:
The habs lost the right to keep their home grown players after the NHL-expansion in 1967.
Before 1967, all 6 teams had the right to keep the home grown players. They all lost that right in 67.
Anyways, if you notice from the names, many of them are not french canadians!
about 1 month ago
Using a one home/ road game format as a method to determine the all-time champion is flawed.
A Stanley Cup champion has never been crowned after game 2. And all the fantastic stats complied by the Montreal & Edmonton teams do not prove -who is the best team of all-time?
There is only one way to determine the best. Simulate all the contestants in a best of 7 series format.
All the great teams can battle each other over & over again. But eventually, the team best suited to these best of 7 playoffs should emerge consistantly as the winner.
As evidence with their 19 consecutive playoff series wins in which no opponent could even force a seventh game, the battle tested Islanders were clearly the superior team. They were the best when it mattered most. Specifically, the '81-'82 NY Islanders are the greatest team of the time.
write a new comment