It would be difficult to find something innate more to encourage the inability of Canada to win a Stanley Cup in the last three decades. The nation that cools the sport of hockey, nurtured its culture and provides about 40% of the players in the league has not had a team to raise the Cup since 1993, when the Montreal Canadiens beat Wayne Gretzky and the kings.
At that time we have seen Florida teams win the Cup four times, Carolina wins once: only Las Vegas and Dallas have had their time in the sun. The Toronto Raptors have an NBA championship, the Blue Jays won a world series, all while the Canada’s collective hockey drought continued.
2025 could be the year that changes all that. Eight teams remain in the playoffs, three are from Canada. Winnipeg was the best statistical team of the NHL this season, the Maple Leafs showed a great determination in defeating the defenders in game 1, and Edmonton demonstrated in the west that the frontline talent exceeded the depth of Las Vegas on Tuesday night.
Now comes the great test. Toronto takes the ice on Wednesday night to try to climb 2-0, and the jets need to show that they belong to Dallas after a series against St. Louis that was too close to comfort. It is time to deepen the three Canadian teams that stay and see if they have what is needed to get to this year, and why they have had so much problems since Canadians won in 1993.
Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers will always be inexorably linked to Wayne Gretzky’s legacy, and now they have the closest player to follow in their steps. Connor McDavid is a phenomenon that Edmonton has been able to reach the playoffs only on the McDavid and Leon Draisaitl stick, and it has been so for years.
The problem, as it perpetually has the leg, is that the Oilers lack defense and the goals congregation needs to make deep races in the playoffs. They are very built to be an incredible regular season team that lacks the depth necessary to win a drink. For a while it seemed that there was the opportunity to change this, but the main office made the decision to keep McDavid and Draisaitl together, paying two huge salaries forward, instead of letting Draisaitl walk and spend the money elsewhere.
This team has the potential to scrub in clusters and force equipment to deep water. It can be difficult to dig, so special if the defense is in point. Unfortunately too or is not. It would be surprising to get McDavid a cup, but it is doubtful that Boscan in the field.
What went wrong over the years?
Losing Gretzky was one thing, but the oilers had a pulmonary and painful death after which he saw them worsen slowly. Nadir really arrived after losing the Stanley 2006 Cup against Carolina, which led some of the worst seasons in the history of the franchise in rapid succession.
This allowed the Oilers to get a phenomenal talent such as Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and the aforementioned McDavid, but the team invested in excess in the game forward at the expense at the expense of the rest of its team. They are a perennial playoff team now. They have the first line talent to make the Stanley Cup, but whether or not they can win another story.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Every year, hope when it comes to the leafs, and every year. Find a way to blow it. The NHL equivalent of the Dallas Cowboys, Toronto, is perpetually a team that looks brilliant on paper, but finds ways to waste their talent when games matter more.
This 2024-25 iteration of the Leafs is far from perfect. They are a bit too heavy in their lines and their penalty is medium, at best. Still, you can’t deny that something feels Different About this Toronto team to the iterations.
It begins with a ridiculous talent at the front. Only Edmonton can boast a similar level of star power. The first line that Toronto has been using Matthew Knies/Auston Matthews/Mitch Marner is a murderous group, and to show off Max Pacioretty/John Tavares/Williams Nylyer, since a second line is absurd.
When it comes to projecting its potential winner of the Cup, it will be reduced to two things:
- Can Maple Leafs be strong enough in the lawyer to remove the pressure from your defense?
- Can Anthony Stolarz be sustained on the network?
If Toronto can make Florida adjust when trying no. 1, then they will have to be content with the capitals or canes to demonstrate no. 2. If both happen, there is a very real possibility that they can overcome those who leave the West.
What went wrong over the years?
How long do you have? To tell the truth, five brutal decades have passed since the last time the Leafs won the Stanley Cup in 1967. At that time they reached the playoffs 36 times and could not return to the Stanley Cup finals. This is an organization that has reached the playoffs in each of the last nine seasons, and has never reached it beyond the second round.
The lack of stellar to be the biggest problem. This is a franchise that has such a consistently good bone that they house the chit of the leg bad enough for the country’s superstar talent, at least until 2016, when the Leafs managed to write Auston Matthews with the No. 1 selection. Matthews and Mitch Marner represent the best 1-2 blow that this team has had in decades, and finally could be what puts them at the top.
Winnipeg Jets
The jets were absolutely phenomenal that revolved the regular season 2024-25. The combination of an efficient game with the star defense allowed them to play an old school game in the modern era. The kings of collecting their shots, there was very little wasted impulse of the jets throughout the season, and with the stellar Connor Hellobuyck in goal in the goal that allowed them to fly.
The problem has been these playoffs. Apparently, everything at once, the team has become a pumpkin. Predict an easy sweep of round 1 against St. Louis seemed like a safe bet after his domain of the regular season, but they were to take seven games and were on the verge of elimination.
Defensively, the team collapsed, Hellebuyck had massive problems to find the album, and also of the jets were expelled from their defensive brands, which opened screens. Now they have to face Dallas, who are the favorites to win the Cup after the acquisition of their Mikko Rantanen exchange deadline. It seems that its story could end in this series.
What went wrong over the years?
Winnipeg was a victim or a small market bias. The first iteration of the team had a phenomenal success, but it occurred just when the NHL expansion was in the mind of the League. This led Arizona to his relocation, leaving the fan base until 2011.
When Atlanta Thrashers moved to give Winnipeg a team, it was hard work for a while, but the team slowly becomes a contender. Now it seems that they have all the necessary parts to win a cup, provided they can find their shape again. The 2024-25 team is the result of the year of work, and this could be the closest that will arrive for another decade.
