Times change for NHL franchises as it is one of the hardest sports to consistently put out a good team every year. Some teams like the Blackhawks have dynasties then fall into oblivion. Other teams stay consistently good but never break through.
These 4 teams were killing it back in 2007 when they all had a chance to compete for lord Stanley as they last 4 teams left in the playoffs. Those teams were the Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings and Anaheim Ducks.
Now all those teams are dead last in their respective divisions which has given us some perspective to look on how their franchises have tanked over the past few years.
Anaheim Ducks:
The Ducks haven’t been terrible since they won the cup in ’07. They have made the playoffs almost every year since then but their worst seasons are ahead of them after having back to back finishes 6th in the pacific division and after not making the playoffs in back to back years for the first time since 2000. Ducks fans are in for a long road ahead but the future is looking bright with young stars such a Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale in the fold.
Buffalo Sabres:
Wow. The Buffalo Sabres have been down bad. They haven’t made the playoffs since 2011 the longest active drought currently in the NHL and the closest they have been to playoff spot was in 2012. The team is a pure mess and haven’t finished better than 6th in the Atlantic Division for over 6 years. It’s safe to say since their loss in the conference finals in 2007 Buffalo has been one of the worst franchises in the NHL and things aren’t looking up either as they tied for the most losses in a row in an NHL season.
Detroit Red Wings:
Detroit has been one of the most successful franchises in all of sports. After their loss in 2007 to the eventual cup champs of Anaheim the Red Wings went on to win the Stanley cup the year after in 2008 and made it to another Stanley Cup final in 2009. After the longest streak of making the playoffs was broken in 2017 the Red Wings haven’t made it back to the postseason since. It hasn’t been the roughest road as a Red Wings fan considering all their success, but that legendary scouting group needs to start picking things up or they could be in for a long stretch of bad seasons.
Ottawa Senators:
The Senators have been incredibly confusing since their appearance in the Stanley Cup final in 2007. They make the playoffs then proceed to miss them the year after then sneak into the postseason again. They go back and forth like this until 2017 which was the last time we have seen them play playoff hockey. They even made it as far as game 7 in the conference finals that year but have been a basement dweller ever since. What happened? They lost Erik Karlsson who isn’t really as effective as he used to be and it seems the teams string of good luck has simply faded. Again this team is such a question mark and who knows next year they might just figure it out and make another run at the cup because you never know which Ottawa.
