About

Using a sports simulator on WhatIfSports.com, courtesy of FoxSports, and a tournament bracket website called Challonge.com, I am attempting to create a simulated tournament to determine the best NHL (Stanley Cup Era) team.

There are a total of 48 franchises eligible for the tournament and they are as follows, in order of rank, as well as the season’s that will represent each franchise:

1. 1976 – 1977 Montreal Canadiens
2. 1947 – 1948 Toronto Maple Leafs
3. 2007 – 2008 Detroit Red Wings
4. 1970 – 1971 Boston Bruins
5. 2012 – 2013 Chicago Blackhawks
6. 1982 – 1983 Edmonton Oilers
7. 1971 – 1972 New York Rangers
8. 1992 – 1993 Pittsburgh Penguins
9. 1981 – 1982 New York Islanders
10. 1919 – 1920 Ottawa Senators (Original)
11. 1998 – 1999 New Jersey Devils
12. 1984 – 1985 Philadelphia Flyers
13. 1974 – 1975 Los Angeles Kings
14. 1929 – 1930 Montreal Maroons
15. 1995 – 1996 Colorado Avalanche
16. 2002 – 2003 Dallas Stars
17. 1988 – 1989 Calgary Flames
18. 2014 – 2015 Tampa Bay Lightning
19. 2005 – 2006 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
20. 2008 – 2009 Carolina Hurricanes
21. 1980 – 1981 St. Louis Blues
22. 2009 – 2010 Vancouver Canucks
23. 1979 – 1980 Buffalo Sabres
24. 1984 – 1985 Washington Capitals
25. 2009 – 2010 San Jose Sharks
26. 2005 – 2006 Ottawa Senators (Modern)
27. 1999 – 2000 Florida Panthers
28. 1972 – 1973 Minnesota North Stars
29. 2011 – 2012 Arizona Coyotes
30. 1985 – 1986 Hartford Whalers
31. 2006 – 2007 Nashville Predators
32. 1984 – 1985 Winnipeg Jets
33. 1937 – 1938 New York Americans
34. 1983 – 1984 Quebec Nordiques
35. 2014 – 2015 Minnesota Wild
36. 2008 – 2009 Columbus Blue Jackets
37. 2008 – 2009 Atlanta Thrashers
38. 1975 – 1976 California Golden Seals
39. 1978 – 1979 Atlanta Flames
40. 1977 – 1978 Colorado Rockies
41. 2015 – 2016 Winnipeg Jets (Modern)
42. 1922 – 1923 Hamilton Tigers
43. 1925 – 1926 Pittsburgh Pirates
44. 1974 – 1975 Kansas City Scouts
45. 1976 – 1977 Cleveland Barons
46. 1919 – 1920 Quebec Bulldogs (only season of existence)
47. 1934 – 1935 St. Louis Eagles (only season of existence)
48. 1930 – 1931 Philadelphia Quakers (only season of existence)

You probably guessed it, the franchises are ranked by how many Stanley Cups they have, followed by appearances and lastly seasons existed. There were a couple of instances where a franchise has been renamed but remained in the same location, such as the Aces and St. Pat’s of Toronto, as well as the Cougars of Detroit, so they were included with the Toronto and Detroit franchises listed.

Each franchise’s representative in this tournament was decided through a playoff within each franchise. The “best” eight team’s are chosen to participate in the qualifying playoff where Stanley Cup winners were automatically included in each playoff. There were certain times, for example the Canadiens and Maple Leafs, where some Cup winners were omitted and those decisions were made based off the success the team had in their playoffs and their Final. When a franchise hasn’t been around for eight seasons…..well then however many they were around for was used instead, duh. The bracket is not your ordinary hockey playoff bracket, mostly due to the number of teams involved, so the top 16 teams received byes.

There were certainly some interesting outcomes of those qualifying tournaments and I will just say I did not have any impact on the outcomes of any games in the qualifying tournaments or the ultimate tournament. This entire tournament will be done without bias, you have my word as a “blogger,” lol. But seriously, you can trust me.