The Stanley Cup - with over one hundred years of history, it stands as one the hardest trophies in professional sports to lift at the pinnacle of hockey. The prestigious award is the goal for every NHL team and player, but for nearing thirty years has been absent in the true north. The Montreal Canadiens were the last Canadian team to win the cup all the way back in 1993, defeating the Los Angles Kings four games to one clinching their 24th title. Since then though... well Canada has failed to bring home the elusive trophy.
As someone who has lived in Calgary, been to a Stanley Cup Playoff game and witnessed Canada's unconditional, unparalleled love for the game of hockey, the decades without a cup is more than just a wait for another championship. The best players and fans hail from Canada, as does the intense passion that sparked and nurtured the sport in its infancy. While American sport obsession is shared among many leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NASCAR, etc.), hockey in Canada is unlike any of these. Its fanatical support a religion for millions - a sentiment similar to football in England as an example.
In the years that have followed Montreal's 1993 Cup glory, only five Canadian teams have even reached the finals. The Vancouver Canucks narrowly missed out in 1994 losing to the New York Rangers in Game 7, it would end a 54 year cup drought for the Rangers and begin the long period of US NHL dominance. The mid 2000s brought hope for the true north as for three straight seasons the Stanley Cup had a Canadian representative in 2004, 2006 and 2007 (the 2005 season being cancelled, the lockout resulting in the introduction of a hard salary cap). The 2004 Finals almost saw the cup return to Canada. The series between the Calgary Flames and Tampa Bay Lightning would be yet another close fought battle. In Game 6, a controversial no goal call prevented the Flames taking a late lead which, if converted into a win, would have resulted in the Alberta franchise raising their second Stanley Cup. The Lightning would end up winning the game in overtime, and then take Game 7 in a tense few periods in Tampa. When the NHL returned after the 2004-05 lockout season with a new hard salary cap in 2006, the finals would once again be a close series for a Canadian team. The Edmonton Oilers - yes the lowly Oilers reached a cup since their period of dominance in the 80s - would narrowly fall to the Carolina Hurricanes in seven games. In 2007, Canada's capital team, the Ottawa Senators would lose to the Anaheim Ducks in five games. Anaheim would be the first Californian team in history to win the cup, the LA Kings have since won two more in 2012 and 2014. Finally, in 2011, the Vancouver Canucks lost the Stanley Cup to the Boston Bruins in yet another Game 7 defeat. In typical, spoilt Canuck supporter fashion the loss resulted in riots, reminiscent of the fan reaction to their 1994 fall to the Rangers.
It has been almost a decade since a Canadian team even reached the Stanley Cup Finals, and nearly three since the cup was brought home. The strength of the US dollar in the pre-salary cap era, the comparative market size of the US vs Canada, and just the fact there are more American franchises are all factors that contribute to the long wait for a championship north of the border. While the success of the NHL, growth of the sport and overall quality of Hockey would be impossible without the US' market scale, the day a Canadian team hoists Lord Stanley's Cup will be one of national significance and pride (although as a Flames fan I hope it's not the Oilers or Canucks). There have been some glorious moments of Canadian success (or pain and absence if you for some reason support the Jets or Canucks and have never won a Cup).
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