Top 5 Forgotten Teams of All-Time

So I actually did this last week out of boredom but never posted it.  Well I’m glad I didn’t post it because my inspiration has changed. This weekend, news started to surface that the Atlanta Thrashers had been sold, and were being moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba……which is in Canada for the Atlas impaired.  Hockey will be returning to one of most underrated hockey cities in all of the NHL, Winnipeg.  It is unknown whether or not they will be the “Jets,” but it doesn’t matter to the people of Winnipeg. On Friday when the news first surfaced, hundreds of fans gathered in a popular square in Winnipeg sporting their Jets gear and celebrating the return of the NHL to Winnipeg for the first time since 1994.  So in honor of this news, we would like to present the Top 5 forgotten teams of all time:

5- Vancouver Grizzlies – Some teams made this list because they were great once, but just fade away into the ether of history.  Some made this list because they were exiled to a city in the middle of nowhere.  You know places that are so secluded that you even forget they exist, let alone that there was a professional sports franchise there once.  Then there are those that were just so bad, you felt bad that that city ever had to endure such mediocrity. This is where the Vancouver Grizzlies fall.  6 years of losing, poor attendance and awful team building eventually led to the teams move to Memphis. Let’s throw some Grizzly facts at you.  They never one more than 23 games in a season while in Vancouver. They had 5 head coaches in 6 years. Their first draft pick ever? “Big Country” Bryant Reeves….yikes. Here’s all you need to know about how bad this team was, when I googled the Vancouver Grizzlies, their best players were listed as the following: Bryant Reeves, Sharif Abdur-Rahim, Mike Bibby, and Stromile Swift. Outside of Bibby, there is not a guy on the list that I can’t guard. Yuck.

4- Colorado Rockies (NHL) – When you are a sports fan and you hear the Colorado Rockies, I bet you think of the baseball team right?  Not me.  I think of the NHL franchise formerly known as the Colorado Rockies, but you can call them the New Jersey Devils now. Formerly the Kansas City Scouts, the Rockies make this list not because of any of the other reasons I’ve mentioned already.  They have a very unique place in history.  They get overlooked as a former NHL team for 2 reasons that I don’t think any other team in all of sports can claim.  The first is the aforementioned Major League Baseball team, the Colorado Rockies that began play in Denver in 1993.  The second reason is the huge success the New Jersey Devils have had since coming to NJ in 1983. The Rockies, who weren’t very successful in there short 6-year run in Denver, had a special place in my heart as a child.  First off they had the coolest, ugliest jerseys in NHL history. The second thing was my favorite player as child was former Ranger captain Barry Beck, who began his career with the Colorado Rockies and holds the team record for most points by a rookie; 60. And the last reason was when you’re a child, certain names; funny, heroic, or just badass; stick with you and you pretend you are that person all the time.  Even if you know nothing about them, or if they suck, you are still pretending to be that guy. Glenn “Chico” Resch was that guy. Whenever I would play goalie for anything; hockey, soccer, whatever; I was “Chico.”  Also another significant contribution by this forgotten team was when Don Cherry was hired in ’79-’80 as their head coach, he coined the motto “Come out to the fights and watch a Rockies game break out.” A sentiment that has been associated with hockey ever since. For a team that was only around for 6 seasons, they left an undeniable mark on the NHL.  But yet they are forgotten.

Hall of Famers – Lanny McDonald (nice ‘stache), Don Cherry (head coach, now Canadian institution on Hockey Night in Canada on TV)

3- Winnipeg Jets – One of the most underrated NHL teams ever.  They make this list because of their geographical location; Winnipeg, where is that; and because they had the worst luck of the draw ever.  When they were in the WHL, they appeared in 5 finals in 7 years (winning 3) and were a huge draw in the league. But then the NHL came calling and all there bad luck started.  Upon entering the NHL, 3 of their top 6 scorers were pilfered for an expansion draft, and they had a horrible draft spot (18^th out of 21).  Despite this initial luck, during their first 2 horrendous seasons they were able to draft well, and build a successful team. They consistently made the playoffs, and performed well from that point on.  Unfortunately for the Jets, they were cursed to play in the same conference as the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames in their hey-day.  Good performing Jets teams were greatly overshadowed by great Calgary teams, and legendary Oiler teams.  The Jets are now known as the Phoenix Coyotes.

 *Hall of Famers – Dale Hawerchuck, Bobby Hull, and Serge Savard

2- Hartford Whalers – Ok, so this poor team.  I really had a hard time with this move back in ’97.  First off, when we do a top 5 jerseys of all time, this team will definitely be there.  They Whalers have one of the coolest looking jerseys in any sport, at any time. And no, not because it’s ugly like the 80’s Canucks or the Colorado Hockey Rockies, oh no, it’s just awesome.  Secondly, again the Whalers have a strong connection to my childhood.  When I was growing up on Long Island in the 80’s we would get WSBK from Boston on our cable system.  They would show Boston Bruins games every weekend with the world’s most drab announcer, Fred Cusick. That guy could put a hyper active kid without his daily riddlin out for the count.  When I was sick as a child and couldn’t sleep I could always count on 2 things to put me out, Bob Ross’s “Joy of Painting” on PBS and Fred Cusick. I digress, the Whalers would have a game on WSBK like once in a while and it would be a treat for me. First off, I never got to see other teams besides the Islanders, Rangers and Bruins until a few years later when ESPN would show them. There seemed to be no schedule for the Whalers on TV either.  Since Hartford was a very small place, when the Whalers would come on it seemed like a feed from a 3^rd world country was finally established and a hockey game broke out.  It was weird. Anyway, the Whalers never really set the world on fire on the ice.  They had some very nice players (Ron Francis, Kevin Dineen, Paul Coffey), and even a legend (Gordie Howe). They had a few good teams, but ultimately they had the same fate as the Jets did.  There good Whaler teams were outdone by great Bruins, Canadiens, and Islander teams. This team is now known as the Carolina Hurricanes, and have won a Stanley Cup since departing for NC.

Hall of Famers -  Gordie Howe, Ron Francis, Paul Coffey, Dave Keon, Bobby Hull, Emile “The Cat” Francis (GM)

1-Philadelphia A’s – The Oakland A’s are one of the most successful franchises in the history of Major League Baseball.  They were a near dynasty in the ‘70’s that rivaled the big red machine. They were an AL dynasty in the late 80’s, and they even are mostly responsible for launching the steroid era in baseball. They have a ton of Hall of Famers (Eck, Fingers, Rickey, Catfish and Goose to name a few) and they continue to be competitive despite being on a shoestring budget from year to year. One fact about the A’s that seems to be completely forgotten, they came from Philly.  That’s right, the Phillies weren’t always the only game in town, it was the A’s of Philadelphia and boy they were good.  With 20 Hall of Famers, 5 championships in 8 appearances, and not just Hall of Famers but legends like Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons and Lefty Grove, the A’s of Philadelphia were a legendary group.  Unfortunately they seem to blend into history because they moved back in 1954, and there was another team in Philly (The Phillies), that kept fans minds off of the depression that could set in from a team leaving like that. Remember, the Dodgers left Brooklyn in ’57 and I don’t think Brooklyn has been right since.  The thing there was “them Bums” were a good team in the mid 50’s, the A’s of Philly hadn’t won in 24 years, and things weren’t looking up.  After the move to Kansas City in ’55, things only got worse. It wasn’t until Charlie O. Finley brought the team to Oakland in ’68 that the team started to win again. The A’s became a very successful franchise again, thus wiping out all the misery the prior 30 years provided and with it the history of those great Philly teams. As a long time baseball fan, and a knowledgeable one at that, I’m ashamed to say that if it wasn’t for Jimmie Foxx being such a beast, I wouldn’t be very familiar with the Philadelphia A’s.

Hall of Famers – Frank “HR” Baker, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove, Al Simmons, Eddie Collins, Chief Bender, Connie Mack(Mgr), Eddie Plank, Rube Waddel (that dudes name is rube)

And being the only team on this list to win a championship, the Philadelphia A’s won in 1910, ’11,’13, ’29, and ’30.