A year after winning the Stanley Cup hasn’t been the best of times for NHL clubs. At least not until the Detroit Red Wings bounced the Columbus Blue Jackets from the playoffs with four straight wins. The Red Wings secured the sweep Thursday when Johan Franzen netted a power-play goal with 46.6 seconds remaining in regulation.

With their dramatic last-minute victory, the Red Wings became the first defending Stanley Cup champion to advance in the playoffs in seven years. The curse of winning the Stanley Cup is over.

First-Round Fate of Last Six Stanley Cup Champions

Year. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cup Winner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Next Season
2002. . . . . . . . . . . . Detroit Red Wings. . . . . . . . .Lost to Anaheim Ducks, 4-0
2003. . . . . . . . . . . . New Jersey Devils. . . . . . . . .Lost to Philadelphia Flyers, 4-1
2004. . . . . . . . . . . . Tampa Bay Lightning. . . . . . .Lost to Ottawa Senators, 4-1
2006. . . . . . . . . . . . Carolina Hurricanes. . . . . . . Didn’t make Stanley Cup playoffs
2007. . . . . . . . . . . . Anaheim Ducks. . . . . . . . . . Lost to Dallas Stars, 4-2
2008. . . . . . . . . . . . Detroit Red Wings. . . . . . . . Beat Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-0

Prior to Detroit’s elimination-game win over Columbus, the last Stanley Cup champion to claim a playoff series was the 2000-01 Colorado Avalanche, who defeated the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks in the first two rounds before losing in the 2002 Western Conference finals to the team that succeeded them as champs, the Detroit Red Wings.

Those Red Wings are a reminder that the current defending champions can’t take anything for granted. The 2002-03 club was swept by the Anaheim Ducks, marking the second of four times in the last eight years that Detroit was an upset victim early in the postseason.

The 2000-01 Wings were the second seed in the Western Conference, but in the first round of playoff action lost to the seventh seed, the Los Angeles Kings, in five games. A year after the 2002 Stanley Cup champs were bounced by the Ducks, Detroit was the NHL points leader but lost to the sixth-seeded Calgary Flames in the second round of the 2004 playoffs.

Two years later, the Red Wings once again were the NHL points leader, going 58-16-8 to lead the league in points by a large margin in 2005-06. They faced the Edmonton Oilers in the first round, and with Oilers goalie Dwayne Roloson averaging nearly 37 saves a game, the Red Wings were sent home to play golf.

With two Stanley Cups and four early exits in the last eight years, the Red Wings know their series sweep of the Blue Jackets is only the beginning if they are to repeat as Stanley Cup champions.