Close but No Cigar: The 40 Best Players Whose Names Aren't Etched on the Stanley Cup

Chris Osgood throws his fatigued arms in the air as Johan Franzen enthusiastically clenches Henrik Zetterberg.

Mike Babcock throws himself into the arms of his assistant coaches.

Nicklas Lidstrom skates to receive the coveted prize and becomes the first European trained captain to win the Stanley Cup.

The other end of the ice shows faces that express disappointment. Unlike the Detroit Red Wings, the Pittsburgh Penguins didn’t receive that extra surge of energy that comes with winning.

Their exhaustion won’t be soothed by Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Two of those faces were Marian Hossa and Ty Conklin, who left Pittsburgh for Detroit during last years’ free agent period. Now both teams find themselves competing for that cup again, a year later.

The prospect of having the Penguins win the 2009 championship had me thinking about all the great players that never won the Stanley Cup.

If Pittsburgh is victorious, Lord Stanley will elude Hossa and Conklin again and perhaps they will never get another chance to redeem this opportunity.

This would mimic a lot of the wild circumstances that have happened to players in the past like a trade at the worst possible time.

Likewise, if Detroit wins again then players like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin might not get another chance to compete for the cup.

After all, it wouldn’t be the first time this happened. Throughout the great history of the NHL there have been many players that never had the chance to hoist the Stanley Cup.

This list will uncover the best of them.

That's the end of this slideshow, here are a few more you might like...

• 

  Looking Down The Bench: Who Is Available?

  We have all heard, read, and pondered about what avenue burke might go in order to make a roster change. Although the route of dumping a player in the minors, or sitting them in the press-box ...

• 

  The Top 10 NHL Arenas to Visit Before you Die

  Hockey has some of the best arenas in sports today. There are many different traditions that go on in different arenas throughout the NHL. My goal one day is too visit every single arena in the NHL and while that will be very hard to do it is possible...

• 

  Atlanta's Russian Express

  The National Hockey League has built a solid foundation on great teams and greater players. In past years the game has seen legendary performers and marvelous forward combinations...