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

Tommy G by Scribe Written on June 09, 2009
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PITTSBURGH - JUNE 04: Nicklas Lidstrom #5 of the Detroit Red Wings celebrates with the Stanley Cup after defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins in game six of the 2008 NHL Stanley Cup Finals at Mellon Arena on June 4, 2008 in Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania. The Red
Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

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.

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written on June 09, 2009 Rankings/List

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