Point Of Fact

? What team has won the most Stanley Cup playoffs?

? Montreal has been the Stanley Cup champion 11 times since 1918, the first year the NHL put up the cup as the symbol of the world hockey championship. Toronto has won the cup ten times, and Detroit seven. New York , Chicago and Boston have three wins apiece.

? When the Chicago Black Hawks won the Stanley Cup in 1961 they broke a string of five straight championships by the Montreal Canadiens (1956-60). Has any other NHL learn won that many cups in a row?

?No. The next best streak is three, by the Toronto Maple Leafs (1947-49). The only other repeat winners were the Ottawa Senators (1920 and 1921), the Canadiens (1930 and 1931) and the Detroit Red Wings (1936 and 1937, 1954 and 1955).

? When was the last time the New York Rangers and the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup ?

?The Rangers last won the cup in 1940, and the Bruins in 1941. The Rangers have reached the Stanley Cup finals only once since 1940 (lost to Detroit in 1950, four games to three). The Bruins have appeared five times in the cup finals since their last championship (1943, 1946, 1953, 1957 and 1958).

? Has any team ever won the Stanley Cup playoffs without losing a game?

?Yes. In 1952 the Red Wings won four straight from Toronto in the semifinals ( Goalie Terry Sawchuk shut out the Maple Leafs in the first two games) and four straight from the Canadiens in the finals ( Sawchuk shut out Montreal in the last two games, and overall allowed only five goals in the playoffs). Montreal also swept the Stanley Cup playoffs with eight straight wins over Chicago and Toronto in 1960.

? Has any goalie besides Terry Sawchuk registered four shutouts in a Stanley Cup playoff?

?Yes. Clint Benedict of the Montreal Maroons (1928) and Dave Kerr of the Rangers (1937) had four shutouts in nine games. In 1945 Frank McCool of Toronto had four shutouts in 13 games. Three of them were in succession against the Red Wings in the finals. Overall, Turk Broda of Toronto leads all goalies with 12 shutouts in 13 Stanley Cup series.