NHL – Stanley Cup Winners
Presenting Stanley Cup winners is little bit tricky task. The reason is that Stanley Cup is not originally a trophy for the best team in the NHL (National Hockey League). In fact, Stanley Cup is older than NHL. NHL was founded in 1917 but Stanley Cup was donated by the Lord Stanley of Preston in 1892 for the winner of the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada. On March 17, 1893, Montreal Hockey Club became the first Stanley Cup Champion.
NHL Foundation
Next problem is that even after NHL was founded in 1917, the Stanley Cup was not a trophy for the best team in the NHL. Since 1915, Stanley Cup was awarded to the winner of the series played by the best team of the NHA (National Hockey Association) and by the best team of the PCHA (Pacific Coast Hockey Association). In 1917, NHL took place of NHA.
In 1922, WCHL (Western Canada Hockey League) was formed and the best team of this league also competed for the Stanley Cup. It means that there were three leagues that competed for the Stanley Cup, i.e., NHL, PCHA and WCHL. In 1924, PCHA folded and one year later, in 1925, WCHL was renamed to WHL (Western Hockey League).
The last non-NHL team that won Stanley Cup was Victoria Cougars from WCHL in 1925. WHL folded in 1926, and therefore, NHL was the only league that competed for the Stanley Cup. Nowadays, it is still possible that non-NHL team can compete for the Stanley Cup. This was decided by the Ontario Superior Court in 2006. Therefore, NHL agreed that non-NHL team can compete for the Stanley Cup in the case of full season lockout.
NHL Era
As we have stated before, since 1926 (i.e., 1926–27 season) only NHL teams competed for the Stanley Cup. Montreal Canadiens is the most successful team with 22 Stanley Cups. The second and third place belongs to Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs, both with 11 Stanley Cups. Totally, 21 teams were able to win at least one Stanley Cup. All winners are in the following table.
| Team Name | Stanley Cups |
| Montreal Canadiens | 22 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 11 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 11 |
| Boston Bruins | 6 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 6 |
| Edmonton Oilers | 5 |
| New York Islanders | 4 |
| New York Rangers | 4 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 4 |
| New Jersey Devils | 3 |
| Colorado Avalanche | 2 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 2 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 2 |
| Anaheim Mighty Ducks | 1 |
| Calgary Flames | 1 |
| Carolina Hurricanes | 1 |
| Dallas Stars | 1 |
| Montreal Maroons | 1 |
| Ottawa Senators | 1 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 1 |
As we can see from the table above, Montreal Canadiens is the most successful team in the whole NHL history.