Canada's Next Cup

When Lord Stanley first donated a championship trophy in 1892, the original idea was that it would go to "Canada's top-ranking amateur hockey club."  Professional teams weren't eligible to compete for the Stanley Cup until 1906, although it, of course, eventually became a strictly professional prize and has been awarded to the NHL champion for nearly a century.

In those early years, it was also a strictly Canadian prize.  The first American team to play for the Cup was also the first to win it--the 1916-17 Seattle Metropolitans.  After that, an American team wouldn't win again until the 1927-28 Rangers, and the first all-American Stanley Cup Final was the next year, when the Rangers played the Bruins.

As the NHL has expanded and the number of American teams has grown, the Stanley Cup has spent plenty of time on both sides of the border.  The Montreal Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup 24 times, more championships than any team in North American pro sports except the Yankees.  And the Toronto Maple Leafs have the second-highest number of Cup wins at 13.  That's 37 total Cups between two of the NHL's marquee franchises, plus another five for Edmonton and one for Calgary, making it 43 Stanley Cup championships between the NHL's current Canadian teams.

The Canadian teams actually had a pretty good decade-long run in the 80s.  The Oilers won five Cups in a seven-year span from 1984-90, and in the two years they didn't win (1986 & 1989), the Final was Montreal vs. Calgary, with the Canadiens and Flames winning once each.  Then, after back-to-back Cups by the Penguins, Montreal won again in 1993, making it eight in 10 years for Canadian franchises.

Since then, though, nothing.  Incredibly, Montreal's Cup win in 1993 is still the most recent for a Canadian team.  We even went 10 years without a Canadian team even in the Final between the Canucks in 1994 and the Flames in 2004, and (five different) Canadian teams are 0-6 in the Final since Montreal's most recent Cup.

While there are plenty of theories why the Canadian teams have been in a collective 30-year drought, it would be foolish to think that it'll continue indefinitely.  We'll eventually see a Canadian team win the Cup again.  There might even be another late 80s-type run.  I'll even make the crazy suggestion that we may one day actually see the Maple Leafs hoist the Cup for the first time since 1967.

There are only seven Canadian teams (compared to 25 American teams), so the odds of them winning the Cup going into the season are already smaller.  But some of the seven are definitely closer to being Stanley Cup contenders than the others.  Which one is the closest though?  Well, let's rank 'em and find out...

7. Vancouver Canucks: Vancouver's actually come the closest of anybody to ending Canada's drought, twice losing in Game 7 of the Final, both times to a superior team (the 1993-94 Rangers and 2010-11 Bruins).  Unfortunately, the Canucks are a long way from the days of Roberto Luongo and the Sedin brothers.  Right now, they seem like the furthest away from Cup contention of the seven Canadian teams.

6. Ottawa Senators: Ottawa isn't much closer to the Cup than Vancouver is.  Especially when you consider what division the Senators play in.  They're also in the process of being sold.  Maybe after the sale is complete, the new owner will make the necessary investment.  Because, frankly, they aren't really that far.

5. Montreal Canadiens: After an unexpected run to the Final in 2021 (when the temporary realignment put all the Canadian teams together in the North Division), Montreal has been downright bad over the past two seasons, finishing last in the Atlantic Division both times.  Things may seem a little dire, but I don't think it can continue.  At the very least, they'll move out of cellar.  It may take a few years for them to get back to Cup contention, but it'll happen.

4. Calgary Flames: Last season, Calgary actually finished second in the Pacific Division.  That was when they still had Johnny Gaudreau, though.  This season, without Gaudreau, they missed the playoffs.  Still, they've got enough talent there and their division is quirky enough to think that a run next season isn't out of the question.

3. Winnipeg Jets: Fun fact: neither incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets has ever reached the Stanley Cup Final.  The only other teams in the NHL with that distinction are the Blue Jackets and Kraken, but Seattle's only been around two years.  Anyway, the Jets aren't that far away from being a serious Cup contender.  They made the playoffs this season and have Connor Hellebuyck in goal.  And we all know how much of a difference a good goalie can make.

2. Toronto Maple Leafs: It's not even funny anymore.  Every year, for 82 games during the regular season, the Maple Leafs are one of the best teams in the NHL.  Then they get to the playoffs and fall apart.  This season they at least made it to the second round!  There's no reason to think it won't continue being more of the same.  Loads of talent, lots of promise, talk of being a Cup contender, the season ending in disappointment.

1. Edmonton Oilers: If the Leafs weren't the Leafs, they'd be an easy call for No. 1.  Instead, the top spot goes to Edmonton.  You wanna talk a team with a ton of talent?  Leon Draisaitl is one of the top 10 players in the NHL and is the second-best player on the Oilers!  When they played the Golden Knights in the second round of the playoffs, I said, "the winner of this series is going to the Final."  Edmonton, of course, lost that series.  Next year, it might be a different story.  Edmonton is GOOD!  And the most likely team to end Canada's Stanley Cup drought right now.