Capitals Moving Up A Peg

Tonight’s hard-fought Eastern Conference Finals victory by the Boston Bruins assures one thing: The Capitals are moving up… on a list they’d rather not be on in the first place.

The Vancouver Canucks have never won a Stanley Cup. The Boston Bruins last won in 1972. Therefore, regardless of who wins the 2011 Stanley Cup, the Capitals will find themselves in 6th place on the list of teams with the longest Stanley Cup droughts.

Along with the Canucks, three other teams have existed longer than the Caps without winning a Cup: Los Angeles, St. Louis, and Buffalo. The Toronto Maple Leafs top the list of Cup impotence — one could argue that they actually win the 42-year tie with the Blues and Kings, since those two teams have neverwon, but I’d argue the contrary: At least the Blues and Kings made it to the Finals at least once in the past 42 years.

Here’s hoping the Caps never move up even one more spot on this list, and that soon they graciously let the Flyers and the others on their tail pass them by.

Team	Last Stanley Cup	Subsequent Stanley Cup Final losses	Stanley Cup drought
Toronto Maple Leafs	1966–67		42 seasons
Los Angeles Kings	never (inception of franchise in 1967–68)	1 : 1992–93	42 seasons
St. Louis Blues	never (inception of franchise in 1967–68)	3 : 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70	42 seasons
Buffalo Sabres	never (inception of franchise in 1970–71)	2 : 1974–75, 1998–99	39 seasons
Vancouver Canucks	never (inception of franchise in 1970–71)	2 : 1981–82, 1993–94	39 seasons
Boston Bruins	1971–72	5 : 1973–74, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1987–88, 1989–90	37 seasons
Washington Capitals	never (inception of franchise in 1974–75)	1 : 1997–98	35 seasons
Philadelphia Flyers	1974–75	6 : 1975–76, 1979–80, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1996–97, 2009–10	34 seasons