Edmonton's cups all come from the same team (more or less), while Pittsburgh has gone all the way with Lemieux and Crosby. Plus Pittsburgh has had like... one bad period of ~4 years since Lemieux while Edmonton has had 10+ since Gretzky. Obviously, I change my pick to to Edmonton if the current Oilers are able to make it all the way with McDrai.
Greatest franchise out of the 4?
- Thread starter slapKing
- Start date
Technically they won without Gretzky (and Coffey and Fuhr) which is actually unbelievable, I don't think other dynasty teams could replicate that.
KirkAlbuquerque
#WeNeverGetAGoodCoach
Kane One
Registered User
Boston. Each of these teams have had a pretty sizable drought, so I went with the one with the longest history.
norrisnick
The best...
- Apr 14, 2005
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Greatest isn't a word I'd use for any of these franchises. Edmonton is the least distasteful...
Habs fan voting for the hated Bruins.
history - 1st US team
longevity
sustained success
4th OA with 6 cups
Chicago has six cups too, and they check the boxes of longevity and history, but they were an absolute embarrassment for decades under Bill Wirtz. A 40 year black hole
history - 1st US team
longevity
sustained success
4th OA with 6 cups
Chicago has six cups too, and they check the boxes of longevity and history, but they were an absolute embarrassment for decades under Bill Wirtz. A 40 year black hole
Czechboy
Češi do toho!
- Apr 15, 2018
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To be honest, I'm changing my vote to Edmonton... and not because I'm a fan (which I am but I originally went PIttsburgh)... here is why!
Pens joined the NHL in 1967
Oilers joined in 1979
So Pen's have a 12 year advantage
They are tied in cups
Oilers have been in the finals 8 times to 6 times in 12 less seasons.
I think it's very close but that broke it for me after my initial Pen's vote.
I'd love to see a similar pole of teams that have entered the league at same time and have had similar tenures in NHL as that is why I left out Boston and Chicago...
Although, to that end, they had a massive head start on both teams and have 1 more cup then Oilers and Penns despite playing in 6 team leauges and having several decade leads on the record books.
And last one... when Pens joined there were 12 teams
When Oilers joined there were 21 teams
Player wise I'd say Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, McD, Drai are on a simlar plane with Jagr, Lemieux, Malkin and Crosby
Pens have made the playoffs
37 out of 56 for a 66% playoff ratio
Oilers have made the playoffs
26 out of 44 for a 59% playoff ratio
Pens joined the NHL in 1967
Oilers joined in 1979
So Pen's have a 12 year advantage
They are tied in cups
Oilers have been in the finals 8 times to 6 times in 12 less seasons.
I think it's very close but that broke it for me after my initial Pen's vote.
I'd love to see a similar pole of teams that have entered the league at same time and have had similar tenures in NHL as that is why I left out Boston and Chicago...
Although, to that end, they had a massive head start on both teams and have 1 more cup then Oilers and Penns despite playing in 6 team leauges and having several decade leads on the record books.
And last one... when Pens joined there were 12 teams
When Oilers joined there were 21 teams
Player wise I'd say Gretzky, Messier, Kurri, McD, Drai are on a simlar plane with Jagr, Lemieux, Malkin and Crosby
Pens have made the playoffs
37 out of 56 for a 66% playoff ratio
Oilers have made the playoffs
26 out of 44 for a 59% playoff ratio
Moist ReadOnly
Registered User
- Jun 7, 2024
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Greatest is Boston, hands down
Best is Pittsburgh or Edmonton, I lean Pittsburgh
I take greatest as an all-encompassing term
Best is Pittsburgh or Edmonton, I lean Pittsburgh
I take greatest as an all-encompassing term
- Oct 9, 2012
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Edmonton is really an interesting one, most of their success is on the back of Gretzky. So they didn’t go through the struggles like other teams did. I give Pittsburgh the nod simply because they had to work for the success a bit more.
Czechboy
Češi do toho!
- Apr 15, 2018
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Pittsburgh has had some generational guys themselves.
our finals appearances (and losses) are quite spread out too! Cups are clustered but we were in the finals a few times outside of Gretzky.
But I do agree.. it's very close and might come down to preference.
I grew up loving the Pens because of the Czechs and the Oilers because they were always my team. For awhile the Pen's were Czech central.lol
Stive Morgan
"That Guy"
- Oct 9, 2012
- 32,440
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Yeah it’s really pretence between the two. Arguments can be made for either team
Agreed. I guess no one remembers the dark days of oilers having bust after bust or dissapointments. Not to mention pitt has 5 cups since the oilers last cup. 3 of those cups in a cap era is more impressive to me than a stacked oilers dynasty. Add in lemieux’s pens era to Crosby pens era, pens win this race by a good margin. With that said, mcdavid and co. Can narrow the gap, time will tell
CanadienShark
Registered User
- Dec 18, 2012
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Killer Orcas
Registered User
Boston and really not close. Sure Oilers and Pens have had some great players and teams but Boston has much more history and just as many stars over their history.
Bouboumaster
Registered User
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Darz
Registered User
"Some" great players, try like those two franchises have virtually monopolized the best players of the last 40 years.
Gretzky, Lemieux, Crosby, McDavid, Jagr, Messier, Draisaitl, Coffey, Kurri, it's an absurd embarrassment of riches.
Gretzky isn't even just considered the best hockey player, he has a case as the greatest modern pro athlete in team sports period. It's him, Jordan, Brady, Messi, and maybe a few others.
There's been four or five generational players in the modern era (Gretzky, Lemieux, Crosby, McDavid ... maybe you can put Ovechkin in that group too), 4/5 going to Edmonton and Pittsburgh is actually fairly unlikely.
- Oct 9, 2012
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Messier was drafted, Gretzky was gifted due to shrewd business dealings. This is why I have Pittsburgh above them
Jets4Life
Registered User
The Oilers did not get Messier from Indianapolis. He was sent to Cincinnati, until the WHA folded. Then he was drafted by the Oilers in 1979
They more or less drafted their dynasty, Messier, Anderson, Coffey, Fuhr, Lowe, Kurri, Tikkanen was already a team good enough to win multiple Cups.
They won without Gretzky, Coffey, and Fuhr for good measure, no other team in the history of the NHL I doubt you could remove the no.1 forward, no.1 D, and no.1 goalie and they still win anyway.
You had to remove Kurri from the Oilers in 1991, and with Messier hurt they *still* made the freaking Conference Finals and still beat the Calgary Flames that had a lot of their core from the 89 Cup team still intact, lol.
They beat Gretzky head to head multiple times too.
Gretzky was destined to be in Edmonton, anyone else could have offered $100 more and gotten him. Some teams are just meant to happen.
Jets4Life
Registered User
Pittsburgh has been the better team for the vast majority of the past 33 years. They also won 5 cups during that period, over a lengthy period of time, compared to the Oilers winning 5 cups in 7 seasons.
MessierII
Registered User
- Aug 10, 2011
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I don’t know Pittsburgh had some pretty garbage years even with Lemieux. Oilers at that time were a scrappy underdog that managed to upset a couple of the 5 teams that won cups in that 9 or so year span. Oilers had one of the worst stretches ever from 2007-2016 but the pens had some absolute garbage years in there as well through the first half of the 2000’s. Edmonton hasn’t won in the cap era but has been to the finals twice and lost in game 7 both times. Pretty wild how 2 games could completely flip that script.
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