Canadian hockey fans must wait yet another year for the Stanley Cup to return north of the border as the Edmonton Oilers fell 2-1 to the Florida Panthers in Game 7.
The Oilers made a valiant effort as they erased an 0-3 deficit to the Panthers. It was the Panthers first ever Stanley Cup trophy.
Edmonton won its last Stanley Cup in 1990. The last Canadian team to win a Stanley Cup was the Montreal Canadiens who did so in 1993. Since Montreal's triumph, Canadian teams have made the Stanley Cup final only seven times and have failed all seven times - Vancouver Canucks (1994, 2011), Calgary Flames (2004), Ottawa Senators (2007), Montreal Canadiens (2021) and the Oilers (2006, 2024).
Let me put it another way. Prior to 1993, the longest a Canadian team went without winning a Stanley Cup was five seasons between 1936 and 1940 and almost entirely at the expense of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Nothing against the Florida Panthers. They earned their championship and I'm sure there are plenty of transplants from Canada and the Northern U.S. living in Miami who enjoy hockey. But in Canada hockey means more than life itself.
When that drought does end, Canada is going to party until every last drop of Labatt and Molson are gone.
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