It took 24 seasons from the inception of the NHL in 1917 before the first Stanley Cup Finals Sweep happened in 1941 when Boston swept Detroit and two seasons later Detroit swept Boston in the 1943 series.
In all there were five Stanley Cup Finals Sweeps during the 1940s with Toronto becoming the first NHL team to win back-to-back Stanley Cups with consecutive sweeps versus Detroit in the 1948 and 1949 Finals.
The only other decade to have five Stanley Cup Finals Sweeps was during the 1990s when Detroit also earned consecutive series sweeps with their back-to-back 1997 and 1998 Cup championships.
There are four NHL teams, (Toronto, Montreal, New York {Islanders}, and Detroit), that have won back-to-back Stanley Cups with consecutive sweeps and Montreal is the only team to have done so twice as well as completing a league-best six Stanley Cup Finals Sweeps.
In over 100 NHL seasons of play, the 20 Stanley Cup Finals Sweeps all have taken place during a 57-season span from 1941 to 1998 making it 24 seasons since a Stanley Cup Finals Sweep has occurred.
Nine different NHL teams have earned a Stanley Cup Finals Sweep and 11 different NHL teams have been swept in the Stanley Cup Finals with one team getting swept in three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals by two different teams:
The upcoming season marks a Quarter of a Century worth of NHL seasons not producing a single Stanley Cup Finals Sweep highlighting the strength and parity of each team in the Finals.
Buffalo Winter 