The NHL is more than 100 years old now and the game is in pretty good shape. There is no shortage of stars, game play is exciting and an expansion team just went to the Stanley Cup final. But what was the best time to be an NHL fan? Because now is the time for summer fun, I decided to take on this task by ranking the best decades in NHL history.
Criterion for this Quixotic quest included goal-scoring, championship parity and aesthetics such as uniforms and hair styles (we’re having fun here, stay with me…). You can argue that a 1-0 game can be very exciting and sometimes that is true. But a 6-5 contest with a line brawl in the middle? We’re all getting up for that, even in November. With parity, I want a mix of dynasties and diversity. Two teams dominating a decade isn’t very amusing unless you cheer for one of those squads. Aesthetics are pretty self-explanatory and obviously biased towards my own personal tastes. Let’s get to it, starting with the best:
The 1980s: Six of the top seven offensive performances of all-time (based on points per game) came in the 80s thanks to Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. With apologies to Stefon, this decade had everything: firewagon hockey, tons of brawls (The Good Friday Massacre between Montreal and Quebec, for example) and great uniforms - before every team decided they had to have black on their palette. You start with a New York Islanders dynasty, but also get multiple Cups from the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens, plus Calgary’s only title ever. Plus, great hockey hair and lest we forget, the Hartford Whalers.
1970s: Right behind the 80s we have the 70s, with patron saints like Phil Esposito and Guy Lafleur. The WHA provided an existential crisis for the NHL, but that just meant more teams and more opportunities for players. European players started to gain traction (shout-out to Borje Salming) and if you liked rough stuff, the Broad Street Bullies put Philadelphia on the map with two Cup championships. Bittersweet: Bobby Orr soared, but also saw his career end early. The Montreal Canadiens also had their last dynasty with four straight Cups to end out the decade. Also, a little thing called the Summit Series.
1920s: We’re going way back here, but the Roaring Twenties did apply to hockey, too. Joe Malone was putting up some of the best numbers of all-time as the decade began, while Punch Broadbent, Babe Dye and Cy Denneny also had seasons where they averaged at least 1.8 points per game. There was also nice chaos here: the 1921 final was played in Vancouver, with the hometown Millionaires of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association hosting the NHL’s Ottawa Senators. The first game was played with “western rules,” which meant seven players on the ice, then reverted to six men for Game 2 and alternating from then on. This was also when teams were still wearing sweaters (now they wear jerseys - FIGHT ME ON THAT) and they looked sharp.
2010s: Now. Now is very good. True, the decade isn’t over yet, but we’ve had a pretty good sample size to work with. Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin win Cups. Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and Chicago all have multiple titles. Connor McDavid. Heck, toss in Team North America from the World Cup of Hockey to get that sweet Nathan MacKinnon and Auston Matthews action. Throwback-inspired jerseys bring Calgary back from the dark side and elevate the Flyers. Marc-Andre Fleury and Vegas’ miracle run. Return of the Winnipeg Jets. We don’t have players scoring two points a game, but the pace has never been faster. Oh, and the beard game has never been better thanks to San Jose’s Joe Thornton and Brent Burns.
1950s: Gordie Howe, Jacques Plante, Jean Beliveau, Ted Lindsay and of course, Rocket Richard. You had a ton of classic NHLers prowling around in the 1950s, while the Richard riot in 1955 was a culturally crucial moment for the province of Quebec - the game actually did have greater ramifications on the outside world that time. Detroit broke up Montreal and Toronto’s hegemony of titles, but there still wasn’t much diversity in the winning teams.
1960s: This was a great time if you cheered for the Toronto Maple Leafs or Montreal Canadiens, but not really for anybody else. Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita thought they would win a bunch with Chicago; turns out one was all they’d get. On the bright side, expansion doubled the size of the league, with St. Louis and Philadelphia coming together the fastest. Unfortunately, a wonky playoff format saw the Blues get dummied in the final several times to close out the decade, which kinda wrecked things. RIP the Golden Seals and their sweet green and gold jerseys.
1930s: No one really blew the doors off in the 30s, with Toronto’s Charlie Conacher putting up the best offensive season with 1.21 points per game in 1934-35. Sweet uniform alert: the St. Louis Eagles also existed that year, coming over from Ottawa. It didn’t last, but they looked great. Same goes for the fellow one-and-done Philadelphia Quakers. Every Original Six team won a Cup, as did the Montreal Maroons.
1940s: For very good Nazi-fighting reasons, the 40s saw a bit of a talent drain as players went off to fight in the Second World War. The best offensive seasons of the decade came during that time, led by Boston’s Bill Cowley and Herb Cain. Once the war ended, gawdy numbers took a dip and things were pretty pedestrian in the offense department. Toronto won half the Cups in this span, though Montreal, Detroit, Boston and the Rangers also clinched titles. It was a steady era of seven teams until the New York Americans/Brooklyn Americans dropped out, paving the way for the Original Six (which, in that context, is a funny name).
1990s: Dead Puck Era. Booooooo! OK, it wasn’t all Dead Puck; you did have Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr tearing it up for the Pittsburgh Penguins before things got super-boring. Tremendous hockey hair in the 90s, plus the San Jose Sharks came in with an all-timer of a uniform. Martin Brodeur started his Hall of Fame career, while Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg led Colorado to Cups. Speaking of which, the Avalanche-Red Wings rivalry was one of the best ever.
2000s: More Dead Puck Era. Boooooo again! Not only was the hockey bad, but the uniforms were terrible (Mooterus anyone?) and the entire 2004-05 season was cancelled because of greedy owners, meaning no one got to lift the Stanley Cup. Todd Bertuzzi. David Frost. Massive infighting in the NHLPA. At least we had the Sid vs. Ovie rivalry, I guess.