TAMPA, Fla. — While the Tampa Bay Lightning pursue their third-straight Stanley Cup victory this season, there's an opposite end of the Stanley Cup spectrum with a host of teams never having won the cup or currently decades away from the last time they hoisted the cup.
The list of teams who have never won a Stanley Cup includes the following: Arizona Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, Ottawa Senators, San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks, Vegas Golden Knights, and Winnipeg Jets.
(A couple of notes on that list: the Coyotes used to be the Winnipeg Jets before moving to Arizona in 1995, so their streak dates back to 1979. The current Winnipeg Jets used to be the Atlanta Thrashers before moving to Winnipeg in 2011, which puts their streak at 21 years dating back to Atlanta.)
As you can tell, with a few exceptions, most of the teams who haven't raised the Cup are relatively new franchises and aren't established like some of the teams who hoisted the cup at one point but haven't been close in decades.
The most famous current Stanley Cup drought belongs to the Toronto Maple Leafs, one of the most storied franchises in the history of hockey. But, the Maple Leafs haven't celebrated a Stanley Cup victory since the 1966-1967 season, a drought of 54 years.
Following closely behind the Maple Leafs are the Buffalo Sabres and the Vancouver Canucks. The Sabres joined the league in 1970 and haven't won a cup since they began. The Vancouver Canucks can relate, having gone 50 years since coming into the league and never winning a Cup. Finally, the Philadelphia Flyers last tasted victory in the Stanley Cup Finals in when Gerald Ford was president in 1975 and haven't won it again since, 45 years in total.
So Lightning fans, enjoy the dominance the team has displayed over the last two years and cheer them on for a three-peat this season!
