There has been much debate over the last few years about which NHL hockey teams are the best. A great hockey team is measured by how many Stanley Cups that team has won, the quality of players both past and present, and how well the team has done in the past few seasons. I feel that the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Montreal Canadians, and the Colorado Avalanche are the best hockey franchises. .
In my opinion, the Toronto Maple Leafs are the best overall hockey team. Over the years, Toronto has won 13 Stanley Cups, the second most cup wins of all time. This is a tremendous number of championships considering the fact that only Toronto and Montreal have won ten or more Cups. Some of the great names that have played or are playing for Toronto are Syl Apps, Johnny Bower, Turk Broda, Curtis Joseph, Frank Mahovlich, and Darryl Sittler to name a few. Also, in the past three seasons, Toronto has made it to the play-offs and gone at least to the Conference finals.
To many people, the Montreal Canadiens are the best team of all time. They have won the most Stanley Cups in history, with an astounding 24! Only baseball's New York Yankees have won more professional sports championships (the Yankees have won 25). Also, between 1951-1960, the Canadiens made it to the Stanley Cup finals a record ten times. They won six Stanley Cups during that period. The Canadiens have had some of the best hockey players of all time, like Maurice "The Rocket" Richard, Jean Beliveau, and Patrick Roy. Maurice Richard was one of hockey's greats. He was the first player to score 50 goals in 50 games and in his 18 seasons with the Canadiens, he lead them to eight Stanley cups! However, the Canadiens have not played well the last while and have missed the post-season the last four years in a row. .
Another great team is the Colorado Avalanche, formerly known as the Quebec Nordiques. When a franchise moves to a new city, it normally it takes that team a while to be competitive.
