Stanley Cup Dynasties

It is one of the most cherished trophies in all of sports, and perhaps the most difficult to win. With expansion, it now takes 16 victories for a National Hockey League team to earn the right to skate the Stanley Cup, a grind that makes defending that championship all but impossible.

It won’t happen this year, since 2007 winner Anaheim was bounced out of the playoffs in the first round. The last franchise to turn the trick, in fact, was Detroit, which followed its 1997 title with a similar run the following season.

With dynasties seemingly a thing of the past, the great ones take on an even brighter glow as time goes by. Here are some of the best runs of sustained excellence:

1956-60 Montreal Canadiens: Claimed a record five consecutive Stanley Cup championships, losing only five playoff games in the process.

1984-90 Edmonton Oilers: Led by Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier, Edmonton won five Cups over a seven year period.

1976-79 Montreal Canadiens: Skated the Cup four straight years.

1980-83 New York Islanders: Needed only 78 playoff games (winning 60) to rack up four consecutive Cups.

1965-69 Montreal Canadiens: Four championships in a five-year span.

1947-51 Toronto Maple Leafs: The Leafs never finished the regular season in first place during this period but still managed to win four titles in five years.

1950-55 Detroit Red Wings: Finishing first in the regular season for six straight years, the Red Wings came away with four Stanley Cups.

1962-67 Toronto Maple Leafs: Yet another stretch of four Cups in six years.

1919-1927 Ottawa Senators: Produced four championships (1920, ‘21, ‘23 and ‘27) over a nine-year period.

Source: NHL.com