Biggest chokers: Ottawa Senators from 1999 to 2006 or Toronto Maple Leafs from 2017 to 2023

[Do Make Say Think]

Has Toronto taken the top spot?

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[dirtydanglez]

what about the sharks? it would be interesting to see them in the poll as they carried the playoff choker label for a long time. i think the current leafs are the worst in my lifetime.

 

[frog]

The stacked san jose sharks were pretty bad too... Leafs for whatever reason thought playoff disappointments Marleau and Thornton would be good guys to teach mathews and marner how to lose in the playoffs

 

[JohanFranzenstein]

The true battle of Ontario.

 

[SENSational]

Has to be Toronto. Ottawa at least was able to win a bunch of series' and even get to the ECF during that time.

 

[Neil Patrick Harris]

Now this is just gloating. And I'm all for it.

The Sens tenure is stymied by the fact that so many of those disappointing ends came against one team in particular, but buoyed by the fact that they did manage a conference finals run in the middle of that era.

Kind of two different perspectives - is it worse to get bounced by one team an embarrassing number of times, but still manage some decent runs in between, or get bounced early by a bunch of different teams?

 

[kingpest19]

Has to be Toronto. Ottawa at least was able to win a bunch of series' and even get to the ECF during that time.

Then going to the SC Finals in 2007 makes me wonder if the OP stopped at 2006 to leave that out or is counting that as part of the 06 season

 

[Sting]

The Sens from 99 to 03 weren't really viewed in the same light as the leafs the past few years. The stretch from 03 to 06 was painful but they took the devils to game 7 (they won the cup) and the Sens did make the finals in 07.

So, Leafs ainec.

 

[La Bamba]

Leafs. One series win (and they were outplayed) in 7 years is atrocious. The fact that they will likely keep the same management team is also mind-boggling.

 

[SlapJack]

All it takes is one run and the label is gone. 2007 is missing from this poll because Ottawa went to the final? Still lost though. Washington was in this conversation and then they won it.

Things need to go your way and it takes time. Look at Colorado, Landeskog drafted in 2011, MacKinnon in 2013, Rantanen in 2015. So they won 11 years after drafting their captain, 9 after their top forward, and 7 after adding another huge piece. And they still didn't round out the team until getting Makar then unloading Duchene for basically Girard and Byram. Hell they finished LAST overall in 2017. Toronto would need to retool slightly and still have time to get rid of the label.

San Jose should be here as well. Great team for years, nothing to show for it.

 

[Bouboumaster]

Toronto AINEC

Missing Washington and San Jose in that poll tho

 

[ricky0034]

Ottawa choked so hard in 2003-04 giving the Leafs their last first round win before this year that they didn't even win a single regular season game in 2004-05 let alone Playoff game

 

[JKG33]

The stacked san jose sharks were pretty bad too... Leafs for whatever reason thought playoff disappointments Marleau and Thornton would be good guys to teach mathews and marner how to lose in the playoffs

It's funny, as great as those Sens, Sharks, Preds, and Rangers teams have been they all share the choker label. And deservedly so. But all of those teams went to the SCF and won rounds in between.

The Leafs? All that regular season "success" and all they have to show for it is a single win in the 2nd rd, and a division banner in one of the worst divisions in NHL history

 

[spiny norman]

Lopsided result.