Panthers blowing Stanley Cup Final would be most devastating choke job in sports history

If the Edmonton Oilers win Game 7 and complete their comeback, they will win the Stanley Cup in historic fashion. But at the same time, the Florida Panthers would be victims of one of the worst choke jobs in sports history. And putting it into context compared to other notable collapses, it would be the most gut-wrenching of them all.  

An Oilers’ Game 7 win would mark only the second time an NHL team rallied back from trailing 3-0 in a Stanley Cup Final. It would be the first such occurrence in 82 years. But this one would feel very different. 

When the Red Wings blew a 3-0 lead to the Maple Leafs in the 1942 Stanley Cup Final, Detroit already had two championships in the bank. In 1942, the NHL was a seven-team league and a quarter-century away from the 1967 expansion that led to the addition of six more franchises. The media coverage was nothing compared to the microscope every team is under today. 

Moving away from hockey, the Red Sox breaking their 86-year curse in 2004 included rebounding from a 3-0 deficit in the American League Championship Series against the rival New York Yankees. Movies like “Fever Pitch” were made about that Red Sox team. No matter how many titles Boston fans enjoy across sports, that year in baseball will be cherished forever. 

But when the Yankees lost that ALCS, they were coming off a dynastic run. New York was in the World Series the year before, granted in a losing effort, and won four championships and six pennants within the prior eight years. Squandering a series and watching your rival end their title drought wasn’t fun for New York fans, but it’s not like Yankees fans at that time truly suffered.  

No NBA team has ever come back from falling behind 3-0 in a playoff series, but LeBron James is responsible for leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to the next best thing. Like the Red Sox in 2004, the Cavaliers’ 2016 title ended a long title drought — the first major professional championship for any Cleveland-based team since 1964. They stormed back from a 3-1 hole to dethrone the defending champion Golden State Warriors. 

However, the same fans who had to endure that defeat celebrated one year earlier. Golden State would also promptly respond by adding Kevin Durant and capturing back-to-back titles over the Cavaliers. 

Furthermore, the Red Wings, Yankees and Warriors are among the most successful franchises of all time. 

The only true argument in terms of comparable pain for both the franchise and the fans is in the NFL. Super Bowl LI saw the Atlanta Falcons jump out to a 28-3 lead, only to watch Tom Brady and the Patriots chip away and eventually lift another Lombardi Trophy. Blowing a 25-point lead in the Super Bowl is simply inexcusable, but it’s especially devastating when it involves a team without a title coughing up a ring to an evil empire like the Patriots. 

There’s one big difference between that Falcons team and this group in Florida. Atlanta only blew one game while the Panthers are blowing a full series and wasting multiple opportunities to win it all. 

The reality for the Panthers is they came up short last year and entered this series as the favorite. The franchise, now in its 30th year, has also never won a championship.