Commentary
The 2024 Stanley Cup Finals
have been an engrossing affair. The Florida Panthers, who reached their third finals and second straight overall, are one win away from becoming Cup champions for the first time in team history. Their opponents, the Edmonton Oilers, are five-time Cup champions who are making their first finals appearance in 18 years. Edmonton lost the first three games, but erupted in Game 4 to keep the series alive.
Who will ultimately win? History is on Florida’s side. The last NHL team to
overcome a 3–0 deficit and win the Stanley Cup was the Toronto Maple Leafs beating the Detroit Red Wings in 1942. It’s only happened in the playoffs on three other occasions. The most
recent result was in 2014, when Los Angeles beat San Jose in a first-round series.
If Edmonton finds a path to victory, it would be one for the history books. It would also bring to an end to the strange 30-year championship drought for Canadian teams.
The last Canadian team to
win the Stanley Cup was the Montreal Canadiens. They beat the Los Angeles Kings in five games in 1993. Few would have predicted it would be the last one for three decades and counting.
There have
been some close calls. The Vancouver Canucks made it twice, losing in seven games to the New York Rangers (1994) and Boston Bruins (2011). The Calgary Flames lost in seven games to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004. The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Oilers in seven games in 2006. The Ottawa Senators were beaten in five games by the Anaheim Ducks in 2007, and the Canadiens lost to the Lightning by the same tally in 2021.
To be sure, this sports curse isn’t much of a curse as it currently stands.
Let’s look at it briefly from a North American perspective. With respect to
baseball, the length of time it took the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, and Boston Red Sox to win a World Series and end their championship droughts was 108,88 and 86 seasons, respectively. The Cleveland Guardians haven’t won a World Series since 1948. The Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres both sit at 55 seasons, while the Seattle Mariners still haven’t appeared in a World Series after 47 seasons.
In
football, the Arizona Cardinals’ last NFL title was in 1947, long before the Super Bowl was even imagined. At least they’ve made it, unlike the Detroit Lions, who last won an NFL title in 1957 and still haven’t played in the Super Bowl. In
basketball, the Sacramento Kings haven’t held an NBA championship in 73 seasons. They’re followed by the Atlanta Hawks (66 seasons), Phoenix Suns (56 seasons), and Los Angeles Clippers, who still haven’t played an NBA Final in 54 seasons.
The longest championship drought in hockey
belongs to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The team last won the Stanley Cup in 1967, and hasn’t won or played for it since. It’s a constant source of frustration in this city, to be sure.
Putting these statistics aside, it’s somewhat surprising that a Canadian-based team hasn’t won the Cup in three decades. It’s not earth shattering, as some die-hard Canadian hockey fans often implore, but it does stick out like a sore thumb.
The modern game of ice hockey was
created in Canada. Cities like Montreal (where the first organized indoor hockey game was reportedly played in 1875), Kingston, Ontario, and Windsor, Nova Scotia, have all laid claim to its origins. Canadian teams won every Stanley Cup series and challenge round held from 1893 to 1916, and—with the sole exception of the 1917 Cup-winning Seattle Metropolitans—all the way to 1927. The two winningest championship teams in the NHL are the Canadiens (24 Cups) and Leafs (13 Cups). Canada currently has the
most active players in the NHL with 485, followed by the United States (319), and Sweden (106).
Hockey has changed a great deal over the years. To begin with, 25 of the 32 NHL teams are based in the United States. That’s a huge advantage, and difficult to overcome on a season-by-season basis. Canada hasn’t been a prime location for an expansion franchise for many years due to our lacklustre economy and mediocre Canadian dollar as compared to other world currencies. Quebec City may get another NHL franchise one day, but other parts of the country, including Atlantic Canada, aren’t seen as viable.
The seven Canadian teams are also well aware of the long championship drought in this country, and it has likely created a mental block or barrier when they reach the playoffs.
Will a Canadian team ever win the Stanley Cup again? Of course. Barring a miraculous comeback by the Oilers, however, it doesn’t appear that it will happen this season.
Editor’s note: This article misnamed the most recent year that an NHL team overcame a 3–0 deficit to win the Stanley Cup. The year was in fact 2014. The Epoch Times regrets the error.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
