As I already covered in a previous entry, the disheartening news of the Islanders referendum to build a new Nassau Coliseum was the big topic. It remains so when the radio station isn’t talking baseball or football. Over on hockey blog Battle Of New York, I added more insight on the Isles’ importance and why they must get a new arena to survive. You can go check it out in a post entitled, “My Take On Islanders Arena.”
It would be a shame if we lost a team that won four consecutive Stanley Cups. This upcoming season is the 40th Anniversary for the Islanders since they entered the NHL as an Expansion club in 1972. If you looked at recent history, other than Edmonton (5 Cups) the Isles are the most successful expansion team. Just track the Cup winners since 1980.
1980-83 New York Islanders
1984-85 Edmonton Oilers
’86 Montreal Canadiens
’87-88 Edmonton Oilers
’89 Calgary Flames
’90 Edmonton Oilers
’91-92 Pittsburgh Penguins
’93 Montreal Canadiens
’94 New York Rangers
’95 New Jersey Devils
’96 Colorado Avalanche
’97-98 Detroit Red Wings
’99 Dallas Stars
’00 New Jersey Devils
’01 Colorado Avalanche
’02 Detroit Red Wings
’03 New Jersey Devils
’04 Tampa Bay Lightning
’05 NONE (Lockout)
’06 Carolina Hurricanes
’07 Anaheim Ducks
’08 Detroit Red Wings
’09 Pittsburgh Penguins
’10 Chicago Blackhawks
’11 Boston Bruins
Expansion Cups
Edmonton-5 (’84-85, ’87-88, ’90)
Islanders-4 (’80-83)
Devils-3 (’95, ’00, ’03)
Penguins-3 (’91-92, ’09)
Flyers-2 (’74-75)
Avalanche-2 (’96, ’01)
Ducks-1 (’07)
Flames-1 (’89)
Hurricanes-1 (’06)
Stars-1 (’99)
Lightning-1 (’04)
FACT: Of the current 30 NHL teams, 13 haven’t won a Cup. They are Atlanta/Winnipeg, Buffalo, Columbus, Florida, Los Angeles, Minnesota Wild, Nashville, Ottawa, Phoenix (Original Jets), St. Louis, San Jose, Vancouver and Washington.
Note: The original Ottawa Senators won 11 Stanley Cups after being founded in 1883. They played in the NHL from 1917-34 before an unsuccessful move to St. Louis as the Eagles resulted in them being suspended. Ottawa waited 54 years until the new Sens reentered the league in 1992-93.
