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(Ed. Note: There’s entirely too much sunshine in the summer. So your friends at Puck Daddy are offering a month of thrown shade and perpetual gloom. Behold, our Summer of Disappointment series, in which we ask fans of all 30 teams to recall the biggest bummer moments, teams and players in franchise history! Please wade into their misery like a freezing resort pool, and add your own choices in the comments!)

Written by Graham Hathway of Winging It In Motown

Most Disappointing Team: 1995-1996 Detroit Red Wings



To call the 1995-96 Wings a regular season juggernaut doesn’t do them justice. Their record of 62-13-7 set the record for most wins in a single season, and they were one point away from tying the NHL record. They finished in the top 3 in GF, GA, PP% and PK%. After starting 5-5-2, they finished the season 57-8-5. No team came within 25 points of them. They were an unstoppable force that was so good that even their goalie could contribute offensively.

Then the playoffs began, and the ferocious lions of the regular season became paper tigers. First they needed six games to eliminate the Phoenix-bound Winnipeg Jets. Then they played a 7 game series against the Blues that gave us this amazing-yet-should-have-been-unnecessary moment.

The Conference Finals saw the Wings play the Avalanche, and it’s possible that Patrick Roy may have still been a little upset about this:

The Wings’ potent offense was held to under 3 goals in 4 of the 6 games and were upset by the Avs, failing to reach the Stanley Cup Final. To literally add insult to injury, Game 6 of that series saw Claude Lemieux earn the hatred of every Wing fan in the universe with a dirty hit on Kris Draper, sparking the Wings-Avalanche rivalry that would dominate the Western Conference for nearly a decade.

Most Disappointing Red Wing: Uwe Krupp



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The Red Wings were coming off back-to-back Stanley Cups, and since there wasn’t a salary cap, they had the ability to spend whatever they wanted to try and complete the three-peat.



Uwe Krupp was supposed to be another addition to what was already a very good defense corps. Never known as an offensive star, Krupp’s abilities as a defenseman were still well-regarded, and he had the distinction of scoring the Cup-winning goal for Colorado in 1996.



The Wings signed him to a 4 year/$16.4M contract in the summer of 1998, and what transpired was nothing short of a disaster.



He played in the first 22 games of the 1998-99 season, then left the lineup due to a back injury. While rehabbing for a herniated disc in his back, it was discovered that he was dog sled racing. This led to a long battle between Krupp and the Wings as Detroit first suspended Krupp without pay and then tried to void his contract. Krupp in turn filed a grievance for the $8.2M he was supposed to make from 1999-2001, when he was completely out of hockey. Eventually Krupp returned to play 8 games for the Wings in 2001-02, but failed to contribute in any meaningful way and ended up being a spectator for the majority of the playoffs. He would sign with Atlanta following the 2002 season and then retired, probably to spend more time devoted to his favorite hobby: earning money for doing absolutely nothing.











