Did
the 2024-25 Florida Panthers start a trend en route to their second-straight
Stanley Cup?
Time
will tell, but the Panthers were an NHL anomaly – a hard-checking team that was
both talented and tough, a rare combination for a champion.
Since
the days when the Philadelphia Flyers were known as the Broad Street Bullies in
the 1970s, few teams have led the league in penalty minutes and won the Stanley
Cup.
Going
back 50-plus years, there have been only five teams that won the Cup after
leading the league in penalty minutes during the regular season.
Those
five teams: This year’s Panthers, the 2020-21 Tampa Bay Lightning, the 2006-07
Anaheim Ducks and the Flyers in 1973-74 and 1974-75. The Panthers, who were 10th
in the NHL with 21 fights this season, didn’t get into nearly as many scraps as
those Flyers teams, but they didplay with an aggressive, hell-bent
style.
All
five of the aforementioned teams did more than flex their muscles and play with
a physical edge. Much more. They all had several standouts to complement their
chippy players.
Let’s
take a look:
1973-74 Philadelphia Flyers
The
physical members of the Broad Street Bullies – Dave (Hammer) Schultz, Bob
(Hound) Kelly, Andre (Moose) Dupont and Don (Big Bird) Saleski – received most
of the publicity, but the Flyers oozed with talent. Bobby Clarke, Bill Barber,
Rick MacLeish and Ross Lonsberry each had 30-plus goals, Bernie Parent was the
league’s best goalie (1.89 goals-against average, .932 save percentage), and
the defense was superb, especially at clearing bodies in front of the net.
The
defense was anchored by Barry Ashbee (plus-53), Dupont (plus-34), Jimmy Watson
(plus-33), Ed Van Impe (plus-31), Joe Watson (plus-28) and Tom Bladon
(plus-25). The Flyers had seven players with more than 100 penalty minutes, led
by Schultz (348 minutes) and Dupont (216).
1974-75 Philadelphia Flyers
The
Flyers were in the middle of a span in which they led the league in penalty
minutes a staggering 11 straight times. But they also topped the NHL in fewest
goals allowed and used the same formula as the previous season to win another
Cup.
Brawn,
plus talent, equaled sensational results. In addition, the Flyers added hard-shooting
right winger Reggie Leach, and he responded with a team-leading 45 goals.
Schultz topped the NHL with 472 penalty minutes, and most of the players, like
this year’s Panthers, played with an edge and an unparalleled intensity.
2006-07 Anaheim Ducks
Anaheim
started the year at +1200 to win the Cup, but they overcame the odds with hard-nosed
play, timely scoring, and excellent goaltending and defense. Though the Ducks’ league-leading
1,457 penalty minutes paled in comparison to the Flyers’ total in 1974-75 (1,955),
they played with a physical nature that was keyed by Shane O’Brien, George
Parros, Travis Moen, Sean O’Donnell, Chris Pronger, Brad May, Shawn Thornton
and the Niedermayer brothers, Scott and Rob.
Pronger
(plus-27), playing in his first season in Anaheim, anchored the defense, ageless
Teemu Selanne scored a team-leading 48 goals, and goalies Jean-Sebastien Giguere
(2.26 GAA, .918 SP) and Ilya Bryzgalov (2.47 GAA, .907 SP) were terrific. The
Ducks also had a strong penalty kill, which was needed because Anaheim was
shorthanded 121 times in 21 playoff games that year, killing 86.8 percent of
the infractions.
2020-21 Tampa Bay Lightning
In
a regular season shortened to 56 games because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tampa Bay
won the Cup after a regular season in which it led the NHL with a modest 597
penalty minutes. Pat Maroon (60 minutes), Barclay Goodrow (52) and Luke Schenn
(51) were the penalty leaders for the Bolts, who won the Cup more on scoring
and goaltending than their physical play.
Andrei
Vasilevskiy (2.21 GAA, .925 SP) was brilliant in net, and five players scored
at least 15 goals, led by Brayden Point (23), Steven Stamkos (17) and Yanni
Gourde (17). Nikita Kucherov, who missed the regular season after undergoing hip
surgery, had a league-best 32 points in 23 playoff games. In the Finals, the Lightning outscored the
Canadiens, 17-8, as they coasted in five games.
2024-25 Florida Panthers
The
Sunshine Bullies topped the NHL with 853 penalty minutes in the regular season,
then led the league, by far, with 370 penalty minutes in the playoffs. A
punishing, physical style was part of the Panthers’ trademark, and the team
became even chippier after it acquired Brad Marchand in March, sending Boston a
conditional second-round selection in the 2027 draft.
In
short, the Panthers were hard to play against. They won board battles, outmuscled
opponents for pucks, and flourished with their physical style of play. The
Panthers were also second in the NHL in penalty minutes in 2023-24, a year in
which they won their first Cup.
A.J.
Greer, Sam Bennett and Niko Mikkola were the Cats’ penalty-minute leaders in
the regular season, but most of the team played with an edge and gave opponents
little time or space on the ice. Sam Reinhart (39 goals, 81 points), Aleksander
Barkov (20 goals, 71 points), Matthew Tkachuk (22 goals), Carter Verhaeghe (20
goals) Bennett (25 goals) and Marchand (10 goals in 23 playoff games) led the
offense.
Meanwhile,
the D got strong performances from Gustav Forsling, Dmitry Kulikov, Mikkola,
Aaron Ekblad and Nate Schmidt. And, as with all the teams on this list, the
goaltending was top-notch. Sergei Bobrovsky, a future Hall of Famer, had a 2.44
GAA and .905 save percentage in the regular season, then was even better in the
playoffs (2.20 GAA, .914 SP).
It
all added up to another Cup, and it will be interesting to see if other teams
try to copy their formula.
Get the
latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by
subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below
the article on THN.com.
