The National Hockey League (NHL) has been around for over 100 years now and during that time, hockey teams from Canada and America have taken their shot at the grand prize – the Stanley Cup.
See our list below for a look at the NHL’s most successful squads, ranked by how many Stanley Cup Finals wins they have under their belt.
Winning the NHL
If you’re new to hockey, you’ll need to know what winning the NHL looks like. It’s an arduous feat where each team plays 82 games in the average season. Each regular-season bout contributes to their ranking in Western and Eastern Conferences, where every win counts. In total, 1,312 clashes take place every NHL season to determine the best on the ice.
Only the top three teams from each conference division advance to the playoffs. They’re joined by the wild cards, making 16 playoff contenders. The NHL is made up of 32 teams and is steadily growing, so each team must battle it out to stay in the winning half of the league. Those elite teams compete in Western and Eastern Conferences, where they battle for the conference champ title.
When the conference champs have been established, the winners face one more challenge. They’re pitted against each other in the Finals, to determine which team is best of the whole NHL. The winners of that dramatic Finals bout get the Cup and their own place in hockey history, recognized as that season’s best team. Then next season rolls around and all 32 teams take to the ice to do it all again.
The fight to become an NHL winner never ends between its teams, with each franchise having good and bad years. Like any sport, some teams win more than others, which is why we’ve made the list below. There you can see which teams have won the most, historically.
Every team has its own lively fanbase, especially the winners in our list below. There’s also an active betting crowd, where avid fans wager on their favourite teams before their next clash. Naturally, it’s the big game – the final – that gets the most attention. With fans always trying their hand at NHL betting, we have a safe and responsible gambling FAQ that can help new bettors engage in secure betting action.
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The Winners List
The NHL emerged as the predominant hockey organization in the 1920s, during which time there were interleague hockey games that shared the Stanley Cup. As such, our winners list focuses on NHL hockey, starting in 1915, but only includes the teams that won from the NHL during that interleague period.
| Team | Finals Appearances | Wins | Winning Years |
| Montreal Canadiens | 35 | 24 | 1916, 1924, 1930, 1931, 1944, 1946, 1953, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1986, 1993 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 21 | 13 | 1918, 1922, 1932, 1942, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1967 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 24 | 11 | 1936, 1937, 1943, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2008 |
| Boston Bruins | 20 | 6 | 1929, 1939, 1941, 1970, 1972, 2011 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | 13 | 6 | 1934, 1938, 1961, 2010, 2013, 2015 |
| Edmonton Oilers | 7 | 5 | 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1990 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 6 | 5 | 1991, 1992, 2009, 2016, 2017 |
| New York Rangers | 11 | 4 | 1928, 1933, 1940, 1994 |
| New York Islanders | 5 | 4 | 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 |
| New Jersey Devils | 5 | 3 | 1995, 2000, 2003 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 5 | 3 | 2004, 2020, 2021 |
| Colorado Avalanche | 3 | 3 | 1996, 2001, 2022 |
| Los Angeles Kings | 3 | 2 | 2012, 2014 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 8 | 2 | 1974, 1975 |
| St. Louis Blues | 4 | 1 | 2019 |
| Dallas Stars | 5 | 1 | 1999 |
| Calgary Flames | 3 | 1 | 1989 |
| Carolina Hurricanes | 2 | 1 | 2006 |
| Anaheim Ducks | 2 | 1 | 2007 |
| Washington Capitals | 2 | 1 | 2018 |
| Vegas Golden Knights | 2 | 1 | 2023 |
The above list only includes hockey teams that still play in the NHL. Only one defunct NHL franchise won the Stanley Cup – the original Ottawa Senators. They won the Stanley Cup 11 times between 1903 and 1927, though only four of those were NHL events.
The first Senators were founding members of the NHL and one of hockey’s earliest trailblazing teams. Note that this is a different team to the modern Senators – the 1992 revival franchise is the second team to use the name. Their modern incarnation has yet to take the Stanley Cup.
NHL Winner Trends
Using this list of NHL winners, we can see trends that show how the league has evolved. Unsurprisingly, Canada’s oldest veteran franchises lead the board thanks to the Canadiens and the Maple Leafs.
Other franchises show the impact that legendary hockey players had on their teams. For example, the Oilers’ 1980’s win streak where Wayne Gretzky made his mark on the sport. The same happened with the Islanders in the early ’80s, when Butch Goring joined the squad and completed what is now recognized as the Islanders Dynasty.
In more recent years, the NHL’s southwards expansion into America has become more apparent. While old American teams like the Bruins, Blackhawks, and Red Wings have had their place in hockey history, upstarts from the West Coast have started to steal the show.
That’s where you see teams like the Los Angeles Kings and the Vegas Golden Knights, founded in 2017, getting Cup wins. Other American franchises like the Washington Capitals, St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Colorado Avalanche have also picked up steam in the 2010s and 2020s.
