Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Philadelphia Flyers winning their second (and thus far last) Stanley Cup, defeating the Buffalo Sabres 2-0 to win the series in Buffalo in six games. That’s six trips to the Stanley Cup Finals ago (Montreal, Islanders, Edmonton, Edmonton, Detroit and Chicago if anyone is wondering who they lost to), more than any other club who are currently in a lengthy drought. A half-century is a lot of time, but in North American professional sports (and even the National Hockey League), they are championship droughts that have gone on longer and have almost been as painful to endure. And some British soccer fans might think 50 years was just yesterday compared to their misfortune, but more on that later.
Let’s first look at the National Hockey League. The Stanley Cup drought champions remain the Toronto Maple Leafs, now going into their next season not having won the trophy in 58 years. They have also now gone 61 years without winning the President’s Trophy for top team over the regular seasons (including a few of those when there were only six teams in the NHL!).
Second on the list is the Sabres, who stand at 54 seasons without winning it all. Buffalo also holds a few other dubious achievements when it comes to losing, having gone 14 seasons without making the playoffs, and 18 seasons without making it into the second round. Also tied for second on the Cup drought list is Vancouver, who came into the NHL the same season as Buffalo but has been searching ever since. At least Vancouver and Buffalo have made it to the Cup finals in recent memory, something Toronto hasn’t done since they won it all in 1967.
So as badly as it’s felt for the Flyers, in hockey there are teams who have had it worse. But in the four leagues of North American professional sports, some are still having it much worse. In the National Basketball Association, six teams have a drought that is longer than the Flyers. None of these are longer than the Sacramento Kings, who have now gone 74 years without not just an NBA championship, but a trip to the NBA Finals. Sacramento hasn’t had all of the woes, as the franchise has had stops in Rochester, Cincinnati, Omaha and two stints in Kansas City before heading to California. In second place is the Atlanta Hawks, who have gone 67 years without a win. Their last win was before they were even in Atlanta, and known as the St. Louis Hawks. Rounding out the top five is Phoenix (56 years), the Los Angeles Clippers (54 years) and the New York Knicks (51 years).
Major League Baseball have three teams currently who are longer in the tooth regarding championships than the Flyers. Topping the list is Cleveland who have gone 76 seasons without a World Series championship. They had a chance to break the drought in 2016, but lost to the Chicago Cubs (who broke a 107-year drought defeating Cleveland in a thrilling extra-inning, seventh-game tilt). Two other teams, both of which broke into the league at the same time, remain without a World Series championship now standing at 56 years: the Milwaukee Brewers and the San Diego Padres. In fourth for futility lies the Seattle Mariners at 48 years (who haven’t got to the World Series), and Pittsburgh at 45 years.
The National Football League have a four-way tie for its longest Super Bowl drought, each of them at 59 years. Detroit, Minnesota, Buffalo and Atlanta have all played nearly six decades without holding a Super Bowl parade or the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The Buffalo Bills and the Minnesota Vikings might be in the realm of feeling the Flyers’ pain as they’ve each appeared in four Super Bowls only to lose each and every time. Buffalo’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XXV was soul-crushing as kicker Scott Norwood just missed a potential game-winning field goal with eight seconds left. Three other NFL teams (or cities) are currently over the half-century mark awaiting a championship: Cincinnati (57 years), Cleveland (56 years split over two Cleveland teams) and Houston (54 years split between the Oilers and the present-day Texans).
Across the pond, in English soccer, there are a bevy of teams who are still waiting to win a championship, but there are five teams (in different tiers or divisions of play across the country) who currently have droughts of 90 years or more. Fifth is Sheffield Wednesday, who last won the FA Cup in 1935, 90 years ago. In fourth, Huddersfield is also nearing the century mark having won the top-flight championship in England back in 1926. Meanwhile in third is Cardiff City, who won the FA Cup in 1927, or 98 years ago. A full century has come and gone since another Sheffield team, this one Sheffield United, last won the FA Cup in 1925. But topping the list at an almost comical (or tragic) gap is Notts County. That club has gone 131 years since winning the FA Cup back in 1894 (the same year the first Stanley Cup championship was held with Montreal defeating Ottawa).
So, keep your chin up Flyers faithful, a lot more sports teams have had it worse. But two things are certain. If the Flyers go another 50 years before they hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup, it will be a huge celebration in the vein of the Cubs victory in 2016. Secondly, if they Flyers go 131 years between Stanley Cups, you probably won’t be reading about it. And I certainly won’t be writing about it.