The New York Rangers owe the Toronto Maple Leafs. When the Leafs lost the seventh game of their First Round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, they erased the Rangers from the record book in a category that has tormented the Blueshirts for years. Now, when you look it up, you will find the Toronto Maple Leafs in the record book instead of the New York Rangers.
The record? The most consecutive NHL seasons without a Stanley Cup. For decades, when you looked up the record for NHL futility, the answer was the New York Rangers. They went 53 seasons between championships, from 1939-40 to 1993-94.
All Rangers fans are familiar with the “1940” chant that tormented the Blueshirts through years of playoff futility.
By losing this season, the Toronto Maple Leafs are the sole possessors of the record having not won a Stanley Cup for a record 54 seasons. Their last Stanley Cup was in 1966-67. Fortunately for them, the chant “1967” is not as melodic as the “1940” chant we heard for so many years.
The Maple Leafs had already owned the record for the number of years between titles since their stretch of futility included the 2004-05 lockout year. That means the Maple Leafs have not won the Cup for 55 years encompassing 54 seasons.
If that’s not enough to drive a Maple Leafs fan to drink, consider this. They have not won a Stanley Cup series in 18 seasons. The last time they won a playoff series was in the spring of 2004. That is nowhere near the record held by the Florida Panthers who went 26 seasons between winning a series. They exorcised that streak this week when they beat the Washington Capitals to win their first playoff series since 1996.
The Rangers are fourth in that list as they didn’t have a playoff series win from 1949-50 through 1969-70, a span of 20 years.
Of course, the Maple Leafs are the only current team with a chance to top that record.
So if you run into a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, make sure to extend a hearty “thanks” for the favor they did the Blueshirts by losing this year.