All right - because nobody asked for it, now it's time to take on the next sport: hockey. Which North American city is the worst at it?
When it comes to measuring success and futility in the NHL, a few variables change.
First of all, it introduces a whole bunch of metro areas that weren't in the list for the NBA - mostly in Canada (but not entirely). Many of these cities do not have a team in any of the other big four leagues, which means when I analyze the cities across all leagues combined, I might need to be a bit more lenient with some of them (you're maybe off the hook, Winnipeg).
Another thing to consider is divisions: For a good chunk of the NHL's history, there was only a single division with all the teams in it. How do I count division titles? I think in this case, I count the team that finished at the top of the table as the division winner. Unlike European soccer, finishing a season at the top of the standings isn't considered to be the big championship, so I think it's fine to count it as a division title in this case. It's just a playoff appearance with a benefit of home ice advantage.
For the NHL, I start in the 1926-27 season, the first year the Stanley Cup was only contested by NHL teams. I also excluded 2004-05, the year the season was cancelled due to a lockout. It does not count for or against any city.
With all that said, let's get started.
Worst at Reaching the Playoffs: Miami and Columbus
Technically, the city with the worst percentage of reaching the playoffs is Seattle. Realistically, we shouldn't count that against them. The Kraken are a brand new team and not everybody can be the Golden Knights.
Among cities with a more substantial history, Miami and Columbus are the worst at reaching the playoffs. Each has only been represented by one team: The Florida Panthers, and the Columbus Blue Jackets, respectively. And each shares a rate of reaching the playoffs of only 28.57%. Like the NBA, the NHL has a lot of playoff spots relative to the number of teams in the league, so it's easier to get into than MLB or the NFL. Columbus has 6 playoff appearances in 21 seasons, Miami 8 in 28 seasons.
Slightly better than them are Phoenix (9 in 26 seasons), Raleigh (9 in 24 seasons), and Tampa Bay (14 in 29 seasons). Because Tampa Bay is close to a 50% playoff appearance rate, you get an idea of how easy it is to make the Stanley Cup playoffs when you consider they are in the bottom 5. Atlanta and Hartford had poor records of their hockey teams reaching the playoffs, but neither currently has a team.
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| Another kind of blue jacket |
Worst at Advancing in the Playoffs: Miami
Miami stands alone as the worst at advancing in the playoffs. They have only advanced twice in 28 seasons. Phoenix and Columbus have also advanced twice, but with fewer seasons played (26 and 21, respectively) they have higher success rates. Winnipeg has had 4 seasons with at least 1 playoff series win in 28 seasons, split across both the old and current versions of the Jets. And Minneapolis rounds out the bottom five, with 10 playoff advancements across 47 seasons, shared by the North Stars and the Wild.
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| I think this logo is better for the Panthers |
Worst at Winning Division Titles: Winnipeg
This is where things get a little tricky. Unlike the NBA, which has always had divisions, there was a 30 seasons period in the NHL where there was only a single league table. This was the "original six" era, where the six oldest NHL teams were the six only teams in the league. Divisions were re-introduced in the 1967 season, where NHL expansion began.
For the purpose of this exercise, I'm considering whichever team finished at the top of the league standings between 1938 and 1967 as the division winner. Nowadays this would be the winner of the President's Trophy, one of the few trophies in North American sports given to whoever ends the season with the best record (MLS has a similar trophy called the Supporters Shield). Back during the original six era, this was known as the Prince of Wales trophy.
Naturally, the cities with an original six team (Boston, New York, Detroit, Chicago, Toronto, and Montreal) have an advantage because it was statistically more likely that they would win a division title during this era.
Now with all those disclaimers in mind, the worst city in terms of winning division titles has to be Winnipeg. While there are three cities with active clubs who have never had an NHL club win a division title, Winnipeg has the most seasons played with 28 (Columbus has 21 seasons, and Seattle only 1).
Following Winnipeg are Phoenix (1 division title in 26 seasons), Minneapolis (3 in 47 seasons) and...Toronto?! What's an original six city doing on this list? Yes, with 8 division titles in 95 seasons, Toronto has a surprisingly poor record for winning division titles. They only won 2 Prince of Wales trophies. Still, at least they have some, which is more than poor Winnipeg can say.
Worst at Reaching the Stanley Cup Finals: Winnipeg
Again, Winnipeg has the worst record here. Neither incarnation of the Jets has ever reached the Stanley Cup finals in 28 seasons of play. Phoenix and Columbus haven't either.
Among cities that have had a team reach the Stanley Cup finals at least once, the San Francisco Bay area has the lowest rate, followed by Miami and St. Louis.
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| If you want to learn more about this band, all I can say is: Be smart, don't start |
Worst at Winning the Stanley Cup: Buffalo and Vancouver
There are 11 cities that currently have an NHL team that have never seen their team win the Stanley Cup finals. So, the worst at winning it has to be the one with the most seasons, and in this case: it's a tie! Buffalo and Vancouver have had their teams for 51 seasons, but neither have ever won it. Below is a table for all cities that have had 20+ NHL seasons and no Stanley Cup titles.
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| Imagine what would happen if they actually win |
City of Maximum Futility, NHL: Buffalo
I have to give the ultimate title to Buffalo. They have no Stanley Cup championships in 51 seasons of having a team, and only 2 appearances in the finals (Vancouver appeared 3 times, so they have a slightly better record there). The only category where they aren't abysmal is in reaching the playoffs and in advancing in the playoffs, but even there they aren't high on the lists.
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| I'd be grumpy too. |
The Least Bad
Best city for winning the Stanley Cup: Montreal, at an astonishing 21.5% per season, is Montreal. None since 1993, though.
Best city for appearing in the Stanley Cup: Also Montreal, 29.91% per season.
Best city for winning their division title: Las Vegas, 40% of the time. But because they're new and it's a small sample size, the next highest is...Montreal, 36.45%.
Best city for advancing in the playoffs: Again, Las Vegas at 60%, and then Montreal, at 48.6%.
Best city for making the playoffs: Montreal, 84.11%.
Montreal has historically dominated this league. If we did a "what have you done for me lately" analysis, though, it would probably look different.
Odds and Ends
Winning percentage in the finals: Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Nashville, the Bay Area, Buffalo, Vancouver, and Miami a zero winning percentage in the Stanley Cup Finals. Vancouver has had the most chances to win it, at three.
The only city to have a 100% success rate in the Stanley Cup finals is Denver, who have won it all three times the Avalanche have made it. At their heels is Pittsburgh, with 5 Stanley Cups in 6 chances.
Reaching the finals per playoff appearance: Three cities are tied at the worst at making the finals per playoff appearances: Winnipeg, Phoenix, and Columbus. None of them have ever made it. Winnipeg has had the most chances at 16.
The best city at reaching the finals when they make the playoffs: Detroit just edges out Montreal at 37.5%, compared to 35.71%.
Winning in the playoffs per playoffs appearance: Phoenix is the worst, having advanced in only two of their nine playoff appearances.
Raleigh is the highest, having advanced in seven of nine appearances.
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