 This is also the most recent time that an NHL team has won the Cup four years in a row, and also the first (and, to date, only) time a North American professional sports team has won four consecutive titles in any league competition with more than twenty teams.Even if this standard is lowered to encompass league competitions of at least sixteen teams, the Islanders are still only the third and most recent franchise to accomplish such a dynasty after the New York Yankees in Major League Baseball (who have forged two such World Series dynasties - the first in the 1930's and the second in the 1950's) and the Montreal Canadiens (whose own such dynasty immediately preceded the Islanders' prior to the merger with the WHA).Since 1983, no professional sports team on the continent has won four consecutive championships and no NHL team has won more than two consecutive championships (most recently the Pittsburgh Penguins in and ).