It is an on-going argument which NHL teams are the best of
all-time. It is hard to compare the 1930 Boston Bruins with the 1977 Montreal
Canadiens when the rules, conditions, equipment, training and number of teams have
changed drastically through the years.
We go Vulcan with
this article, showing the best NHL team from each decade since the 1920’s based
entirely on single season winning percentage. The number of games played in a
season has gone from 24 to 82 in just a short 80 years and winning percentage
is the only true measure of a team’s success during the regular season. Just to
be clear, this is based on the top single season performance by a team during
the decade and not the collective winning percentage over the ten years.
1919-20 Ottawa Senators
The 1919-20 Ottawa Senators played in a young NHL with only
3 other teams and with only a 24 game schedule. The team won 19 of the 24 games
and had no ties for a winning percentage of .792. The Senators won the Stanley
Cup that season which is, from what we will find out, somewhat of a rarity
among teams who excel to extreme levels of success during the regular season.
Ottawa was led offensively by Frank Nighbor and in net by
Clint Benedict. Nighbor, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame since 1947, played
for Ottawa from 1915-16 to 1929-30. Benedict is also enshrined in the HHOF but
entered in 1965. He played with the Senators from 1912-13 to 1923-24 before
finishing his career with the Montreal Maroons.
1929-30 Boston Bruins
The 1929-30 Boston Bruins had the highest single season
winning percentage of all-time. In the 44 games schedule, the Bruins had 38
wins and 1 tie to go along with their 5 losses for a winning percentage of
.875. This was the era before the ‘Original 6’ and the NHL consisted of two
divisions of 5 teams. The Bruins were easily the top team in the American
Division. However, the Montreal Canadiens from the Canadian Division would be
the eventual winners of the Stanley Cup that season.
Art Ross coached the Bruins, and was Boston’s first ever
head coach. He would lead the team to a Stanley Cup championship at the end of
the decade in 1938-39. In 1929-30, Cooney Weiland of the Bruins led the NHL in
goals and points. Other greats playing with Boston that year were Dit
Clapper, Eddie Shore and goaltender Tiny
Thompson.
1943-44 Montreal Canadiens
The 1943-44 Montreal Canadiens would achieve a winning
percentage of .830 with 38 wins, 5 losses and 7 ties over a 50 game season. The
league consisted of 6 teams and the Canadiens were crowned Stanley Cup
Champions. The Dick Irvin coached team had a healthy 25 point lead over the second
place Detroit Red Wings.
Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard was just in his first full season
in the NHL after appearing in just 16 games with the Canadiens the year before.
His 32 goals led the Canadiens and tied him for 6th in the league
with Bill Mosienko of the Chicago Blackhawks and Syd Howe of the Red Wings.
Playing all 50 games in net for the Habs was Bill Durnan.
1950-51 Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings had a winning percentage of .721 in
1950-51 on 44 wins, 13 losses and 13 ties over 70 games. The league still
consisted of the original 6 teams. Despite Detroit’s success, the Toronto Maple
Leafs would steal the Stanley Cup away. The Red Wings fell to the Montreal
Canadiens in the opening round, four games to two. Montreal finished the
regular season in third place, 36 points behind the Red Wings. It was a close
battle with the Habs outscoring Detroit over the series by just one goal and
two of the six games going into overtime.
Detroit’s Gordie Howe led the NHL in both goals and assists.
He won the Art Ross Trophy with a commanding 20 point lead over Rocket Richard.
Only one man stood between the pipes for Detroit during the 1950-51 NHL season,
Terry Sawchuk.
1961-62 Montreal Canadiens
The 1961-62 Montreal Canadiens had a winning percentage of
.700 on 42 wins, 14 losses and 14 ties over 70 games. The league was in its
final decade of just 6 teams with expansion arriving in 1967-68. Once again,
the Toronto Maple Leafs snatched the Stanley Cup away from the regular season
league leader.
The Toe Blake coached Canadiens were led offensively by
Ralph Backstrom and Claude Provost. Jacques Plante played every single game in
goal for the team. Montreal was knocked out in the first round by the third
place Chicago Blackhawks.
1976-77 Montreal Canadiens
The team that is considered by many to be the best of all-time
put in a winning percentage of .825 in 1976-77. The Montreal Canadiens lost
just 8 games while winning 60 and tying 12 over 80 games in the 18 team league.
The Canadiens would breeze to a Stanley Cup win that season, losing just two
playoff games. Montreal dropped two to the New York Islanders in the
semi-finals while sweeping the St. Louis Blues in the opening round and the
Boston Bruins in the finals.
Offensively, Steve Shutt led the league with 60 goals while
Guy Lafleur led the NHL with 80 assists and 136 points. Of course, the Scotty
Bowman coached Habs were led in goal by Ken Dryden with Michel Larocque doing
an admirable job as backup.
1983-84 Edmonton Oilers
Wayne Gretzky and his Edmonton Oilers controlled the 1983-84
season with a winning percentage of .744 on 57 wins, 18 losses and 5 ties over
80 games. Not only would the Oilers top the 21-team league over the regular
season but would take the Stanley Cup, as well. The Oilers took out the
defending champion New York Islanders in five games in the finals. New York had
won the Stanley Cup for the past four seasons. Edmonton’s toughest challenge
came in the quarter-finals when the Calgary Flames took them to the seven game
limit.
Gretzky led the league with 87 goals, 118 assists and 205
points. He was a whopping 79 points ahead of second place Paul Coffey,
also of the Oilers. Gretzky, Coffey, Jari Kurri and Mark Messier all topped the
100 point plateau. Andy Moog and Grant Fuhr shared the goaltending duties with
what would have been lacklustre numbers on any other team.
1995-96 Detroit Red Wings
In 1995-96, the Detroit Red Wings set the record for most
wins in a single season with 62, a record that stands today. The Wings posted a
winning percentage of .799 over the 82 game schedule, losing 13 and tying 7.
The league had expanded to 26 teams at this point. Despite the record number of
wins, Detroit would fall to the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup semi-finals.
Colorado then swept the Florida Panthers to win the championship.
The Scotty Bowman coached Red Wings were led offensively by
Sergei Fedorov and Steve Yzerman. Sharing the goaltending duties were Chris
Osgood and Mike Vernon.
2005-06 Detroit Red Wings
Ten years after their record performance, the Detroit Red
Wings posted the best record of the decade with a .756 winning percentage in
2005-06. The feat was accomplished on a record of 58 wins, 16 losses and 8
ties. At this point, the league was up to 30 teams and remains at that number
today. Once again, the Wings would not take home the Stanley Cup as the
Carolina Hurricanes would win their first. In fact, Detroit was upset in the
opening round by the Edmonton Oilers in six games.
It was Mike Babcock’s first year as head coach of the Red Wings
and just two years later, he would have his first Stanley Cup championship.
2005-06 marked the start of the Pavel Datsyuk era and the end of the incredible
career of Steve Yzerman. Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg led the team offensively
while Manny Legace played the bulk of games in net.
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