The Best NHL Teams in History What is up you guys and welcome back to Top 10 Sports, my name is T-Ray. Today we are going to look at the Best NHL Teams in the history of the sport. Make sure you hit the like and subscribe button and let's get into it. At number 10 we have the 2001-2002 Detroit Red Wings. Their coach Scotty Bowman, coaches of veteran roster consisting of nine players, bound for the Hall of Fame to a five game cup final win against the Carolina Hurricanes and the Red Wings third Stanley Cup title in six years. At number nine we have the 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers. They were young, brash and ultra talented. The best player was more than that, Wayne Gretzky was a hockey genius. They needed some seasoning first, needed to learn from some early stumbles. But they progressed quickly and coalesced into a hugely entertaining group that captured the sporting world's imagination even before they won their first Stanley Cup Championship in 1984, their fifth season in the NHL. At number eight we have the 1977-78 Canadians. The Montreal Canadians ruled hockey in the late 1970s, winning four consecutive Stanley Cup Championships from 76-79 with Firewagon Offense, Tremendous Defence and Brilliant Gold Tending. So dominant were the Canadians that every other NHL team knew in its heart that the priceless trophy might as well be engraved before the season's first game. At number seven we have 1982-83 New York Islanders. When the 1982-83 regular season concluded, the three-time defending Stanley Cup champions seemed a pale imitation of the previous selves. At 422-612, the New York Islanders were tied for sixth in the NHL with 96 points, down from 118 in 1981-82. They had scored 83 fewer goals than in the season before, 302, down from 385 and a staggering 122 fewer goals than the Wayne Gretzky-led Edmonton Oilers, the league's emerging power. To many observers, the islanders seemed oddly vulnerable for a team that hadn't lost a playoff series since 1979. However, that opinion was not shared inside coach Al-Arbors Locker Room. Never count out a champion, said Ken Moro, a stalwart defence man for those islanders teams and now their director of pro scouting. Once you've done it, there's a confidence that comes out and you're able to raise your game to another level when you have two. If you're still watching this, please hit that like button, it will go a long way. And wet that said, let get back into it. And at number six, we have 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings would take the traditional tours of the Rink with the Stanley Cup, having swept the Washington capitals in four games to win their second consecutive championship. But before the victory laps began, Captain Steve Weizerman placed the trophy in the lap of Vladimir Konstantinov, the defence man who had been critically injured in a limousine crash six nights after Detroit's 1997 Stanley Cup victory. And now number five, we have the 1986-87 Edmonton Oilers. One indication of that talent, seven Oilers, forwards Gretzky, Yari Curry, ESA Tickanan, Mark Messier and Glenn Anderson, defence man Paul Coffey, and Goldtender Grant Four, were named to the 25-man NHL team that faced the Soviet Union in the two-game rendezvous 87 exhibition series in Quebec City in February. But the Oilers waged a season-long battle in 1986-87 against a memory. Their shocking elimination the previous spring by their most bitter rival just down Albert a highway two, the Calgary Flames, in the Smite Division Final. And at number four once again the Oilers. No team ever scored goals like the Stanley Cup winning Edmonton Oilers of the 1980s, but the 1987-88 edition revealed new dimensions. While still filling the net, the Oilers adopted a more rugged attitude and showed, as champions often do, that they could win playing any style. For the first time since 1980-81, Edmonton failed to finish first in the Smite Division, coming in second, six points behind the Calgary Flames, to reach 100 points and to lead the NHL in goals. Part of that was related to an injury that limited way in Gretzky to 64 games. But if that makes these Oilers seem like merely a very good team, but not one of the best ever, consider this, they continued evolving in some very essential ways that season, becoming the second best defensive team in the Campbell Conference while boasting the second best defense in the league. And now the top three great NHL team of all time are Number three, 1976-77 Montreal Canadians. Evon Cornoyer says, with a little mischief in his voice, that when the 1976-77 Montreal Canadians hit a slump of, say, two losses in a row, he would call a team meeting to sort things out. Cornoyer, the Montreal captain, never called such a meeting, because, over the 80-game regular season, the Canadians never lost too straight. 60 wins. 8 losses. 12 ties. They were for sure of the best teams but not better than the number two team. 1991-92 Pittsburgh Penguins. When you win once, people wonder, forward Kevin Stevens told Sports Illustrated. When you win twice, it's no fluke. In successfully defending their cup title, the Penguins perfected the art of peaking at the optimal time, showcasing a mountain of mental and physical resolve in the process. Indeed, in November 1991, weeks into the season, the penguins were mourning the death of their beloved coach, Bog Johnson, who had guided him to their first cup title six months earlier. And the number one team on this countdown is the 1984-85 Edmonton Oilers. Yes, the Oilers again, people. It must be because they're from Canada. The 1984-85 Edmonton Oilers might have been even better than the previous season's edition, which won the Stanley Cup and set NHL scoring records because their high-level skill was fortified by the confidence-borne of success. Yet, they also had to learn the same lesson as all previous Shoms. The rest of the league was now gunning for them. Defence man Kevin Low recounted in his book, Champions, co-written by Stan and Shirley Fischler, that when Centre and Four-Time Cup Champ Billy Carroll was claimed off-wavours from the New York Islanders by Oilers General Manager, Coach Glenn Sathur, he alerted his new teammates that they would best be prepared for 80 challenging regular season games. Well, there you guys have it the top 10 great NHL teams in history. If you guys enjoyed this, please hit that like button. If you want to see more, subscribe to my channel and leave a comment. You guys are the best, thank you. You have been watching the top 10 sports with T-Ray. See you in the next one, bye.