Prepare for a rollercoaster of emotions as we dive into the biggest chokes in NHL history. These tales of defeat and missed opportunities remind us that even the most potent teams can cave to postseason pressure.
One choke that I think is underrated is the 2009-2010 Washington Capitals, where they finished the season with 55 wins, 121 points, and 315 goals as a team. In the first round of the playoffs that year, they faced the 8th seed Montreal Canadiens. After taking a 3-1 series lead, they blew the series and lost 4 games to 3. In games 5-7, they were limited to only one goal each, thanks in large part to outstanding goaltending from Jaroslav Halak.
As a Caps fan I must admit this choke is not on the same level of catastrophe. They didn’t know how to play playoff hockey and it took 9 more years to figure it out.
As a wings fan. 01, 03, 04, and 06 could have all been in this video... Good thing we won our cups, if we didn't we'd be the biggest chockers in sports history.
We still have: 1942 Cup Finals, up 3-nil on the Leafs only to choke it sans gag reflex. And don't forget 1995 against the Devils in the Cup Finals: 4-nil swept by Brodeur and the Crash Line. That line gave us more headaches than Scott Stevens laying out Kariya for days.
I don't know, it's tough to say a team choked, when they won 4 Cups, and made 6 Stanley Cup Finals in their run. I consider teams that choke, never won.
The sweep of Tampa really was something special for all us Blue Jackets fans. Having our asses handed to us in the first period of the very first game made it that much more sweeter.
Yeah y'all shocked the world that year but it's funny, in your teams entire history, that's your only highlight. Kudos to the sweep of my Lightning but you see what beating us did right? It turned us into the MONSTER we were for 2 straight and almost a 3 peat. We got knocked down, got back up, and went on a roll never to be forgotten. How many Cups do you guys have?
Sergei Bobrovsky is like the Eli Manning of the NHL at this point like he’s taken down the 2nd best team record wise (tied with the 96 red wings) in 2019 by sweeping the bolts, and then proceeds to come back from a 3-1 deficit against the best team record wise in NHL history, unbelievable, get Bobby in the hall, if we say Eli should be in the NFL HOF, then Bobby definitely should be in the NHL HOF, in my opinion hes one of the clutchest goalies in recent history
Yeah, he had a tough time but being wise you must be aware that we are not talking about a regulation season, one on one Shootout! You know of course, that one player, a team does not make. Goalies, sadly. Are not able to keep up their amazing goal scoring, from the season proper. That means, sometimes, the other 5 guys on the ice, need to help out every once in a while. As you know, that's what makes Hockey, such a grinding experience. Every game you play, every series you win, the players have to deal with something called, injuries! To win the Cup, you need soooooo many things to go tight, it's almost astro! Searching to Baseball for a guick momento. Have you ever heard of the St, Louis Cardinals? In the early, to mid 80's. There was an insane amount of basesbeing stolen....Luckily, they had camers taping the games and some other dude, writing it all down. It turns out it was some gang of robers. I think a few of the names, were Henderson, Raines and Coleman. One of them was so addicted to Speed, that he crashed his Super fast Porsche, while going almost 4 times the speed limit! He was also snorting blow off a hooker, at the same time!! Anyway that's not the main story. He main story had the ST. L Cardinals playing in the World series. During one of the early games, there was a rain delay and while the tarp is being laid by machine. The machine ran over the cardinals rookie star and tried to eat him!!! Luckily his friends saved him in time but Vinny Cole was out for the series and the cards folded. See what I did th...you know how the little girls, they stick cards in the bike spokes. Luckily Ozzie Smith or Ozzie and HARRIET2 Avoid being run dowm by a bicycle. The moral is, shitting and shit, happens and so it doesn't matter how good you are playing. You win as a team and for some reason the guy who got you to the finals, getsa paper cut from cards, falls over and almost gets eaten, by a taurpin machine. If you know history sometimes it still tries to eat you like snuggleuppisses! Think about that! But 4 now I'm flying like rem lezar.good times but you can only fly a few times. An thats the news 4 the day. You better det better if it's goi to happen. "True Dat!"
Tampa resident and Lightning fan here. That sweep hurt. Badly. But, it did create a monster. And it was awesome being a Tampa resident. 2 back to back, close to a 3rd. Then a Bucs superbowl. It was a good few years to be here.
Penguins losing to Islanders after being up 3-0 in the 75 Conference semis...Flyers coming back from 3-0 against the Bruins in 2010...Capitals four times blew 3-1 series leads to Pittsburgh, NYI, Rangers, Habs...Flames blew a 3-1 series lead to Vancouver in 94...Flyers blew a 3-1 series lead to NJ in 2000...Vancouver and Colorado blew 3-1 series leads to Minnesota in the same playoff year 2003....Penguins blowing a 3-1 series lead to TB in 2011...Habs beating the Bruins in the 71 semis whilst maybe not a Boston Choke, but they finished well ahead of the Habs with 121pts in the reg season and where the heavy favourites to win the cup.
2019 was such a crazy year dude. With the blue jackets sweeping the lightning, then the isles get swept by the canes, then the canes get swept by the bruins and then the bruins choking in the final
As a sharks fan I remember watching the reverse sweep when I was 13… man I was just in shock… couldn’t move. Same when Boston lost this year… literally couldn’t move
exhibition tourney empty stadium win. kucherov cap cheating win + ECF given to them by refs + terrible East opponent in the 'final'. then the next year continued ref carrying (gave them the Toronto series). funniest moment in NHL history is the refs finally abandoning them in the last instant like Quintus abandoning Commodus at the end of Gladiator, waving off the icing at the end.
@@killersquid1234 ? coping w what? my team faced Tampa in a legit final and choked the life out of them. I can still remember Stamkos shooting it into Crawford's pads on a breakaway. and Kucherov skating by helplessly after Kane scored the putaway goal. Hawks even got the pleasure of beating Vasilevskiy during a key game in that series.
2017 Hawks next time plz :P great video man! Wasn't expecting much since im really picky about hockey channels but I stayed the whole video and was a fun watch, thumbs up
@@bobber1165 it wasn't a choke, no one cares. the Hawks had just won 3 Cups in 6 years and been to 5 WCF in 7. they were tired and most of their core was old. and the undercarriage of the team had been swapped.
@@bobber1165 ok, and? like why do you care? if you're a hawks fan, why would you want that talked about? if you're a Preds fan, why would you want your team's win undermined by calling it a choke by the opponent?
My wings from 1993-1996 and also 2003-2007 could all be on here. Seriously we could’ve had two separate dynasties with Yzerman/fedorov era and zetterberg/datsyuk era. Good thing we won the cups we did win cuz if not….oh my……
How about the 2018-19 Golden Knights? They had a 3-1 series lead, lost game 6 at home to the first ever NHL shorthanded goal in the second (or later) OT, then had a 3-0 lead with about 11 minutes left in game 7. There was a questionable major penalty called but they failed miserably on the PK and became the 4th team to ever give up 4 goals on a single major penalty. They managed to fight back to tie the game up but lost the game in overtime to a fairly fresh Barclay Goodrow.
Awesome video, although certain parts were painful watching as a fan lol. Crazy what can happen in the Stanley cup playoffs, time and time again teams prove anything can happen.
The 1990 Winnipeg Jets should be on there. Up 3-1 against the Oilers in the 1st playoff round, the Oilers came back to win 3 games in a row and then the Stanley Cup
My brother is still bitter about the Bolts sweep to this very day, _especially_ given how the rest of the family are Blue Jackets fans. To say humiliation was served in that series is a massive understatement.
Let's all admit, Boston killed it during the regular season. Florida might still win the cup. And I'd say Boston would have taken us to game seven if it was the second round instead of panthers.
The greatest choke in NHL history happened in 1982 between the Kings and the Oilers. The Oilers had 111 points and Kings had 63. The Kings won the series. The third game was the greatest comeback in NHL history. The Oilers were up 5 - 0 after two periods. The Kings roared back with five goals in the third period and then the Kings won in overtime.
Idk if I'd call 2006 a choke, you showed that the Red Wings were consistently outplaying the Oilers but that Dwayne Roloson stood on his head while Manny Legace shat the bed.
'23 Boston imo is the biggest choke. It all writes itself. Best regular season, most points, 43 point differential, etc, we've heard that all before. But with 1 LITERAL second left in the 5th game to put the Cats away with the Marchand breakaway, Bobby said no. Then the Cats score in OT with that bizarre play by the goalie. Game 6? Boston was up a couple times and couldn't put them away again, and the Cats get 6 on them plus the EN. THEN in game 7, they're down by 2, score 3, emotions are going crazy, and are snuffed out with one minute left to go only to lose in OT. I can't imagine how absolutely shocked the hockey watching people of Boston were for about a month. I think, imo, why the Lightning sweep in '19, while embarrassing, is overlooked a bit is because they won back to back Cups the next two years. If my Panthers would have lost game 7 this year in the finals against the Oilers, then THAT would have been the worst choke, going with a reverse sweep. But they had to lose 3 to remember that they needed to win 4. It's pretty crazy knowing Bobrovski beat two President's Trophy winners in Tampa and Boston in such wild fashion. Just saw the banner raised the other night. Tear in the eye to see it live. It's wild to think that the 5th game against '23 Boston was the game that started it all and led to a Cup. Can't imagine how insane it would have been if they beat Vegas. But hey, it all turned out okay in the end.
I know it’s not technically a choke, but the Rangers versus the Kings in the Stanley Cup finals 2014. Only managing to win one game just barely and getting utterly embarrassed for the first time in the finals in 20 years…and since, making their “King” look more like the Court Jester.
Surprised the 1982 Oilers vs Kings didn't get a mention. 111 point Oilers vs 63 point Kings. Oilers blow a 5 goal lead in 1 period in game 3 and lose in OT. The lost in game 5 on home ice. Considering how many future HOF players on Edmonton that was terrible.
Dont think the bruins 22-23 choke is worse than the lightning at all. Bruins players were terribly sick with something before the round started, and ullmark was hurt, and the dmbass coaches played him anyway. Plus they didnt get swept
I think the Bruins loss was more painful, as they had a 3-1 series lead, and were a Marchand breakaway goal away from what would have appeared a comfortable series win. They also had the best regular season ever.
2003 Red Wings? Reigning cup champs, 2nd best team in the western conference. Swept in the first round. 1982 Oilers? Gretzky set the record for most goals in a season that year. 48 points ahead of their opponents. Lost in the first round. 1993 Penguins? Reigning cup champs for the past 2 years, longest winning streak in NHL history. Lost in the second round. 2009 Sharks? Presidents trophy winners. Lost in the first round. 2007 Devils? Brodeur set the record for most wins in a season by a goalie that year. Lost in the second round. 1930 Bruins? Highest winning percentage in a season by a team. Swept in the finals.
@@svntn ummm… every NHL and ESPN member and Sportsnet member picked the leafs to win in 5… if not for the bruins that would be the worse collapse in Nhl history… makes the 4-1 bruins look like nothing
the 2017 Hawks were exhausted from a decade of playoff hockey and the team that swept them went to the final. it's bizarre to see Hawks 'fans' chiming in here asking for their team to appear in a bad video.
Tbf the leafs Choked, but that leafs team wasn’t very good, a full season they probably don’t make the playoffs. Like if you think the leafs were gonna beat the ranger, pens and Blackhawks, yeah that shit was not gonna happen.
The Florida panthers have proven that they are not a fluky team, sure last year might’ve have been called a Cinderella run, but this year they were first in the division and now back in the Stanley Cup finals. Meanwhile the Vegas knights lost in the first round to the team they beat last year in the WCF.
NHL "history" in this video doesn't extend back very far. How about the Oilers (111 points) choking in their best-of-five first round series against the Kings (63 points) in 1982, including the pivotal game 3, when the Oilers led 5-0 after 2 periods in Los Angeles and lost 6-5 in overtime? As a Leaf fan, it still hurts to recall the 1977 quarter-final series vs. the Flyers. The Leafs won the first 2 games in Philadelphia and should have swept the series, leading game 3 at home by one goal and game 4 by three goals late in the 3rd period. They blew both games in overtime, lost the series in 6 games, and Red Kelly was fired as head coach of the Maple Leafs. The Canadiens' (103 points) embarrassing 3-game sweep at the hands of the Oilers (74 points) and rookie goalie Andy Moog in 1981 is also worth mentioning.
You FORGOT to mention Vegas blowing a 3-0 series lead in the first round of the 2019 playoffs to the Sharks; yet, you REMEMBERED to mention San Jose blowing a 3-0 series lead to LA in the first round of the 2014 playoffs. How convenient...
The whole hand shaking thing is such insult to injury, oh you got shutout 6 - 0, go shake hands with the one team who destroyed you. Good sportsmanship my ass, I'm not touching the hand of the enemy that just used me as toilet paper to wipe their ass with
That's EXACTLY why it's good sportsmanship. Once it's over you acknowledge the effort and skill of the the team that beat you. You'd rather be ridiculed as a poor sport?
Not really sure how losing in 7 to a team that went on to win the eastern conference and go to the Stanley Cup finals is worse than getting swept by an 8 seed who was bounced the next round….
I think it was included because they blew a three goal lead at the end of the third period. But tbh, no one gave them a chance to begin with so there’s that too
Great content altough the title is misleading. You can't make a claim concerniny "NHL history" when your sample only focus on the last FIFTEEN years 😅 It's not even 15% of It's history. You could have used "The Worst NHL Chokes I've witnessed as a hockey fan" or "The Most Recent Performances Wich I Consider as Chokes In My Opinion"
Fell asleep twice, dozed off once. Love the content but the monotone voice and lullaby background song makes it seem like a high school history class documentary; everyone falls asleep.
