Whichever team wins the Stanley Cup this year will be a first in this century.
THE Dallas Stars won the franchise’s only championship in 1999, a few months before the world worried about computer malfunctions at the start of a new millennium. THE New York Rangers haven’t done so since their magical 1994 run that ended a 54-year title drought.
THE Edmonton Oilers haven’t done so since their dynasty’s last title in 1990, seven years before the current star Connor McDavid was born. THE Florida Panthers have never won the Cup since their inception in 1993, when hockey in the American Sun Belt was just starting to become a reality.
“It’s something that every market is hungry for,” said Mike Rupp, an NHL Network analyst whose three-point performance in Game 7 in 2003 gave New Jersey its third championship. “I love seeing new blood there.”
New blood when it comes to a title but who is no stranger to this stage of the playoffs. Florida and Dallas each made their respective conference finals last year (Florida also advanced to the finals), while New York and Edmonton are back after getting there in 2022.
Thirteen different teams have lifted the Cup since 1999, including Chicago, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay I did it three times, and in New Jersey, Colorado and Los Angeles twice each.
The more things change…
None of the remaining teams have had the same coach for more than two seasons.
Paul-Maurice took over the Panthers and Peter DeBoer the Stars in the summer of 2022. Peter Laviolette I got the Rangers job less than a year ago. Kris Knoblauch was a substitute at the start of the season for the Oilers in November.
This is partly due to the cyclical nature of coaching changes in hockey. high volume over the past 18 months, has garnered the fraternity’s attention, with DeBoer calling it “madness.”
Experience always has value, however, with Knoblauch the NHL’s only first-time head coach in the final four. He is eight wins away from being the fourth coach hired during the season to win the Cup that year.
Laviolette is in his sixth head coaching position. He coached Carolina to the Stanley Cup championship in 2006 and took Philadelphia in 2010 and Nashville in 2017 to the finals. DeBoer has two Finals appearances under his belt: 2012 with New Jersey and 2016 with San Jose. No one has coached more NHL regular season and playoff games without winning the Cup than Maurice with 1,973 games.
…the more they stay the same
It’s not quite like the Tampa Bay Lightning return to the next part in 2020 and 2021 and reached the final in 2022, but these teams have all played a lot of playoff hockey in recent years.
Account their bubble race In the Cup final four years ago, the Stars have appeared in 79 playoff games since 2019.
“Dallas has been a good team for a long time, but they never got over the hump and had a very tough run in the playoffs,” Rupp said.
McDavid and the Oilers have played in 54 postseason games since 2020, their first of five consecutive postseason appearances, with an asterisk on the expanded pandemic format.
The Panthers, who have played 52 in the last five playoff series, have usurped the Lightning as Florida’s best team, including knock out their cross-state rivals in the first round this year. They are now co-favorites for the Cup with Dallas, according to BetMGM Sports Betting.
The Rangers, with 40 games of playoff experience since 2020, are actually the longest shot on the board despite win the Presidents’ Trophy as the best team in the NHL during the regular season. Since general manager Chris Drury took office, New York has transformed from a youth movement to a powerhouse.
“The Rangers’ rebuilding days weren’t that long ago,” Rupp said. “They were preparing for some very difficult years, and they turned things around a lot quicker, I think, than people thought.”
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AP NHL Playoffs: And
