Of the thirty teams in the National Hockey League, there are still thirteen that have yet to hoist the Stanley Cup. There are two teams from the size doubling expansion in 1967-68 that have yet to win a Stanley Cup. Since the Toronto Maple Leafs last won the Cup in 1966-67, the three teams are tied for the most years without a Stanley Cup victory.

Both the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild entered the NHL for the 2000-01 season. The Blue Jackets have made the playoffs just once since their inception and they didn’t make it past the first round. The Wild have had mildly better success with a Western Conference finals loss in 2002-03.

The Atlanta Thrashers began play in the NHL one year before Columbus and Minnesota. Atlanta’s one trip to the playoffs was a first round sweep in 2006-07 at the hands of the New York Rangers.

The Nashville Predators have been in the NHL one more year than Atlanta. Nashville has had some success qualifying for the post season. The team has made the playoffs five times over their short lifetime but have never advanced past the first round.

The Florida Panthers haven’t made the playoffs since 1999-00. The team came into the league in 1993-94 and had very rapid success, making it to the Stanley Cup finals in just their third year in the league. The Panthers lost to the Colorado Avalanche in the finals at the height of the ‘neutral zone trap’ era.

The latest incarnation of the Ottawa Senators entered the league in 1992-93. Despite being one of the top regular season teams for a number of years, the Senators made it to the Stanley Cup finals in just 2002-03 (losing to New Jersey Devils) and 2006-07 (losing to the Anaheim Ducks). A team called the Ottawa Senators won four Stanley Cups in the 1920’s before moving to St. Louis then disappearing from the league.

The San Jose Sharks entered the NHL a year before the Senators. As with the Senators, the Sharks have fielded a top-notch team that has done great during the regular season but has had trouble in the playoffs. The team has made it to the Western Conference finals twice before being knocked out, 2003-04 and 2009-10.

The Phoenix Coyotes moved to the desert from Winnipeg in 1996-97. The team has yet to make it past the first round of the playoffs. The team was originally dubbed the Jets in Winnipeg from the 1979-80 season and had no better luck at that location. As a member of the World Hockey Association, however, the Jets won the Avco Cup three times as the league’s playoff champions.

The Washington Capitals have been favoured to compete strongly for the Stanley Cup over the past few years but have provided their fans with perennial post season disappointment. The Capitals entered the league in 1974-75. They have lost in the Conference finals just once, losing to the Boston Bruins in 1988-89, and the Stanley Cup finals just once, losing to the Detroit Red Wings in 1997-98.

The Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks both entered the NHL for the 1970-71 season. Both have lost in the Stanley Cup finals on two occasions. The Sabres lost out to the Philadelphia Flyers in 1974-75 and the Dallas Stars in 1998-99. The Canucks lost to the mighty New York Islanders in 1981-82 and the New York Rangers in 1993-94.

The two teams from the expansion of 1967-68 that are still in search of their first Stanley Cup victory are the St. Louis Blues and the Los Angeles Kings. The Blues went to the Cup finals in their first three years of existence and haven’t been back since. The Kings have only made one trip to the finals, a loss to the Montreal Canadiens in 1992-93.

Will the droughts end for these teams in 2010-11? As of January 17, only five are in the top eight seeds of their conference. The Vancouver Canucks currently lead the Western Conference and the Washington Capitals are always a threat in the East. The standings are tight and any team can be in or out after that last day of regular season play. Only time will tell.