Logos for the past and present teams of the NHL - gotta catch 'em all!

A month ago, I posted my explanation of the “Curse of the Shark Tank” [link]. In the comments, Tomi wondered if any other team had a record similar to the Sharks, and that made me wonder as well – were there? Since I had a little time today (and I want to refrain from commenting on the free agency period until everything has been sorted out for the Sharks), I decided to go to the internet and investigate this query.

Immediately, you can throw out any team that has been to the Stanley Cup Finals and lost, which leaves only eight teams in the modern-day NHL (i.e. the current thirty teams): Atlanta Thrashers, Colorado Avalanche, Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild, Nashville Predators, Phoenix Coyotes, San Jose Sharks, and the Tampa Bay Lightning. As this is a comparison to the Sharks, they can be thrown out as the baseline, leaving seven teams.

On an interesting note, both the Colorado Avalanche and the Tampa Bay Lightning have made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, but every time they have made it they won the Cup.

Anyways, of those seven, two teams have only made the playoffs once – the Atlanta Thrashers and the Columbus Blue Jackets (coincidentially, both were swept in their sole appearances). Both of them lost to a team that did NOT go on to win the Cup – the New York Rangers and the Detroit Red Wings, respectively – and so their potential for having the curse is still there. However, since they only made the playoffs once, neither of them qualify.

Now for the teams that made the playoffs more than once.

The Colorado Avalanche have made the playoffs a total of 11 times, notably winning the Stanley Cup in their first season (to be fair, it was a relocated team instead of an expansion team, which tends to make things easier). The very next season in 1997, the Avs were beaten by the Detroit Red Wings, who later won the Stanley Cup, which disqualifies them from the curse. On an interesting note, every time the Avalanche lost to the Red Wings in the playoffs, the Wings went on to win the Cup.

The Minnesota Wild made the playoffs twice, bowing out to the Ducks (Mighty and not-so-much) both times. The second time in 2007, the Ducks went on to win the Cup, disqualifying them.

The Nashville Predators made the playoffs four times, losing only to the Red Wings and Sharks. Their loss to the Red Wings in 2008 disqualifies them.

The Phoenix Coyotes made the playoffs four times, with no weird coincidences about the teams. They did, however, lose to the Red Wings in 1998, and the Wings went on to win the Cup, therefore disqualifying the Coyotes.

The Tampa Bay Lightning only made the playoffs three seasons, including their Cup win in 2004. In 2003, though, they lost to the New Jersey Devils who went on to win the Cup. Disqualified!

So, the Sharks are the sole holder of the curse, the only team that has been in the playoffs multiple times never to lose to the eventual Stanley Cup champion. However, that was just the teams that are currently in contention – what about the franchises that have been relocated or folded? Well, I also took a look at all the other teams that have been in the NHL since the Original Six era (so no New York Americans or Montreal Maroons). I’m also not counting any WHA years, since that technically isn’t the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Atlanta Flames, which later became the Calgary Flames, made the playoffs six times. In their very first appearance in 1974, they lost to eventual cup champions Philadelphia Flyers.

The California Golden Seals, who relocated as the Cleveland Barons, which eventually folded into the Minnesota North Stars, who relocated as the Dallas Stars and spawned the expansion San Jose Sharks (whew!) made the playoffs twice, never losing to the eventual Cup champions. Coincidentially, they were also in the Bay Area.

The aforementioned Cleveland Barons never made the playoffs, so they don’t count either way.

The short-lived Colorado Rockies (who relocated to New Jersey to become the Devils) made the playoffs, losing to the Flyers, who did not go on to win the Cup. I categorize this team the same as the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Atlanta Thrashers, as the sample size is much too small.

The Hartford Whalers, later the Carolina Hurricanes, made the playoffs 8 seasons, curiously being eliminated by the Montreal Canadiens five times. One of those times, the Canadiens won the Cup (1986).

The Kansas City Scouts, who were relocated to Colorado as the aforementioned Rockies, never made the playoffs.

The Minnesota North Stars, now the Dallas Stars, lost in the Finals twice, in 1981 and 1991, and therefore are disqualified.

The Quebec Nordiques, now the Colorado Avalanche, appeared in the playoffs 9 times, losing to the dynasty Islanders in 1982 and the ’93 Cup-winning Canadiens team.

The Winnepeg Jets, now the Phoenix Coyotes, made the playoffs 11 times, being eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers 6 times. One of those times was the dawn of the Oilers dynasty, eliminating the Jets from contention.

So, to recap: besides the Sharks, the Atlanta Thrashers, California Golden Seals, Cleveland Barons, Colorado Rockies, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Kansas City Scouts have never been eliminated by a Cup winner. Of those six teams, only two are still in existence, and five of them only made the playoffs a single time. The Seals only made the playoffs twice, so are borderline.

The point remains, though – any NHL hockey team in the San Francisco Bay Area not only has never been to the Stanley Cup Finals, but has never been eliminated by a Cup winner in the combined 14 seasons of playoffs appearances. The Sharks, however, remain alone in this curse as they are the only currently operating franchise that still has this statistical oddity, and it spans a dozen seasons of playoff appearances.