the toronto maple leafs has the longest drought of stanley cup.
who has the longest drought of stanley cup?
the toronto maple leafs
the maple leafs attempted to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2003–04 season. they were officially eliminated from playoff contention on april 5, 2011, when buffalo sabres beat tampa bay lightning 4–2, shortly before toronto lost to the washington capitals in a shoot-out. the leafs hold the longest active stanley cup finals drought streak not having competed in the finals since the 1966–67 nhl season. they also are tied with the los angeles kings and the st. louis blues for the longest drought without a stanley cup until the kings won the stanley cup in 2012. in the 2009–10 season, the chicago blackhawks ended the longest drought without winning a stanley cup at that time, not having won the stanley cup since the 1960–61 season.
2010–11 toronto maple leafs season
nevertheless, the team did not win the cup from 1961 until 2010 — when they defeated the philadelphia flyers — which was the second longest drought of any current nhl team (since this time, they have won the cup two more times, in 2013 and 2015). the longest is 54 years (1940-1994) by the new york rangers. the 2009 stanley cup playoffs was the first time since 1996 that the blackhawks had advanced beyond the first round in the stanley cup playoffs, when they defeated the calgary flames in the opening round and the vancouver canucks in the conference semi-finals before falling to the detroit red wings, in the conference finals. moreover, until the 2010 stanley cup playoffs, the blackhawks had not appeared in the stanley cup finals since 1992, where they lost to the pittsburgh penguins.
curse of muldoon