Best NHL teams since 1990?????

[Lancer]

Someone asked me in each sport what were the greatest teams I actually got to watch with my own eyes/living.

Football - Easy 85 Bears
Basketball - Tie - 86 Celtics and 96 Bulls
Baseball - 1998 Yankees (not counting big red machine because I was a little kid). Plus a lot of those 90s Braves team were great but choked in the WS.

Hockey? I guess the obvious answer would be the 80's Oilers or even the Early 80s Islanders. But again, back then I was a kid and there was really no national broadcast of every team nationwide like there is today. I only got to watch then in the cup finals and that was sort of rare too here in America. So I will not count the 80's teams in this regard.

I guess I would have to say 3 teams come to mind -


1.late 90s/ Early 2000's Redwings and Avalanche teams. That was an awesome rivarly and those teams were stacked.
2.The early 90's Pens with Mario and Jagr
3.New Jersey Devils with Marty as Goalie that had like a 10 year stretch from 1994/1995.


Those devils teams seem not to get the respect. Anyone think of any other team that was better than the ones I mentioned?

[pk500]

Mid 10s/Early 20s Tampa Bay Lightning:

2014-15: Lost SCF
2015-16: Lost ECF
2016-17: Missed playoffs
2017-18: Lost ECF
2018-19: Lost first round
2019-20: Won Stanley Cup
2020-21: Won Stanley Cup
2021-22: Lost SCF

Four Stanley Cup Final trips in eight years, with two wins. Advanced to at least the Eastern Conference finals except for two years during that span, all during a period of more liberal free agency than the 80s or early 90s. Unrestricted free agency didn't come to the NHL until the 1995 CBA.

That's stout. And I don't want to hear a peep about the "bubble" Cup. It was legit. Everyone played under the same circumstances.

Florida is building a similar resume in the 2020s, but it's still early. Need more seasons to compare.

[Lancer]

Mid 10s/Early 20s Tampa Bay Lightning:

2014-15: Lost SCF
2015-16: Lost ECF
2016-17: Missed playoffs
2017-18: Lost ECF
2018-19: Lost first round
2019-20: Won Stanley Cup
2020-21: Won Stanley Cup
2021-22: Lost SCF

Four Stanley Cup Final trips in eight years, with two wins. Advanced to at least the Eastern Conference finals except for two years during that span, all during a period of more liberal free agency than the 80s or early 90s. Unrestricted free agency didn't come to the NHL until the 1995 CBA.

That's stout. And I don't want to hear a peep about the "bubble" Cup. It was legit. Everyone played under the same circumstances.

Florida is building a similar resume in the 2020s, but it's still early. Need more seasons to compare.

oh yeah i forgot about them. they're like a forgotten franchise. they had a really good run.

[pk500]

oh yeah i forgot about them. they're like a forgotten franchise. they had a really good run.

Forgotten by people who only follow hockey for two months per year, maybe. Not forgotten by avid hockey fans.

[Lancer]

oh yeah i forgot about them. they're like a forgotten franchise. they had a really good run.

Forgotten by people who only follow hockey for two months per year, maybe. Not forgotten by avid hockey fans.

ok boomer lol