Greatest Team of All Time

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

This is pretty dumb, when you look at who is included in this list, and both LA's most recent teams are not. I wouldn't care if not for all of Pitt and Chicago's most recent teams being in there.

Top 50 Greatest NHL Teams revealed

I wrote one comment down there basically saying that the 2012 run could at least be considered one of the most dominant in history. At least more so than some of the other team's on that list.

There is a pretty heavy bias in the fan voting, with both Kings' cup teams being the only ones not included in recent years (I get it that there are more people voting from the East, but this should at least make people question the list). I'm not saying it's definite, but the 2012 Kings team started every series going up 3-0 in all 4 rounds (Win both games on the road, then win game 3 at home in all 4 rounds). They broke the road winning record, and they only lost 4 games the whole cup run, 2 before the Stanley Cup Final (Final record of 16-4). They also beat the #1 seed Canucks, the #2 Blues, and then the #3 Coyotes. If the Rangers had beaten new Jersey, then the Kings would have played the hardest possible road (#1, #2, #3, #1 - but since Rangers lost, the Kings beat #1,#2,#3 and then #6). They still beat the top 3 seeds in the West before beating New Jersey.



2014 team is maybe the greatest run in sports history (Hold laughter). They won 3 road Game 7's (At San Jose, at Anaheim, at Chicago), they are only the 4th team in hockey history to come back from 0-3, and they won 7 elimination games (Lose and they go home) that year. They played the most games ever by a Stanley Cup Champion (26 Playoff games).

 

[PuckinUgly57]

Excellent response.

Since 1987 when the NHL adopted a 7 game series format, the 2012 team is tied for 2nd in least number of games played to win the Cup (Montreal 1993, NJ 1995, Detroit 1997, Kings 2012 - all 16-4 teams and 15 years passed between 16-4 winners). The record is held by Edmonton (shocker) in 1988, 16-2.

The most games played to win the Cup also belongs to LA with the 16-10 run and they are the only team to win the Cup having played that many games (Flyers 1987, Flames 2004 and Lightning 2015 - all 3 lost to the eventual Cup winners in the 26th game).

That 2014 Kings team to me is one of the top 3 in NHL history. So much adversity, so much character, so much resolve. They never gave up, they trusted each other and pulled it off. They won a variety of games from high scoring to low scoring, were down in some series 3-2, in some elimination games by 2 goals and still managed to win.

Damn shame most of the EC didn't see that run or at least didn't believe how magical that team was.

 

[Stunner_At_Staples_Kings]

Yeah, I've re-watched those runs many times, and it's amazing how much different they are than each other. Both amazing in their own right. Shawn O'Donnell made that point during the 2014 parade, that he thought it was the greatest run in North American sports history, to which I thought maybe he was just being a homer. But when you look at it in its entirety, it really can be argued that it was. 3 Road Game 7 wins, plus coming back from an 0-3 hole. So much drama, and it's still amazing to me how much happened during that run.

 

[Vegas]

Yeah, I've re-watched those runs many times, and it's amazing how much different they are than each other. Both amazing in their own right. Shawn O'Donnell made that point during the 2014 parade, that he thought it was the greatest run in North American sports history, to which I thought maybe he was just being a homer. But when you look at it in its entirety, it really can be argued that it was. 3 Road Game 7 wins, plus coming back from an 0-3 hole. So much drama, and it's still amazing to me how much happened during that run.

I really don't think any team had as tough a road as the 2014 Kings. Any of the 3 teams they played in the west could have won the cup. Winning the games in Chicago was a real accomplishment. They were almost unbeatable at home that y ear. And the Rangers were hardly pushovers.