Late (my time, at least) Sunday night, the Edmonton Oilers dropped Game 6 of their Western Conference Semifinals, 5-2, and in so doing, were eliminated from Stanley Cup contention.
Much is made of the long-suffering Toronto Maple Leafs’ fan base – a Stanley Cup drought since 1967 – but as a nation Canada is 0-for-its-last-30.
Back in 1993, the Patrick Roy and Kirk Muller-led Montreal Canadiens beat Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings four games to one. That, my friends, was the last time our neighbors to the north owned the Cup.
For a nation that more-or-less claims the sport as its own, it has to be maddening.
And it’s not like it’s MLB or the NBA where a cursory Canadian team is allocated (see Toronto’s Blue Jays and Raptors; the Jays, by the way, last won the World Series in 1993). No, Canada’s NHL franchises include Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Calgary, and Vancouver. That’s a touch more than 20% of the NHL teams.
What’s likely even more galling is the fact that – pending the outcome of tonight’s Game 7 between Seattle and Dallas – every Stanley Cup semifinalist this year could well reside south of the Mason-Dixon Line (Carolina vs. Florida and Vegas vs. Seattle/Dallas). And in the event Seattle wins, a pair of franchises that didn’t even exist last century (Seattle and Vegas) could be playing for the Cup!
Until next season, eh?