Canada has been searching for a Stanley Cup since the Montreal Canadiens hoisted it in 1993. Since then, there have been several Canadian teams that have competed in the Cup final, but they’ve failed each time.
Including this year’s final, there have been eight finals that have consisted of a Canadian team. The Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers featured in two Cup finals leading up to this season. In addition to those teams, the Calgary Flames, Ottawa Senators and Canadiens made appearances.
Edmonton was the last Canadian team to lose in the Cup final, falling to the Florida Panthers in seven games last season. They dropped the first three games, but crawled back to force a Game 7. Despite their dramatic comeback, Florida took home the Cup, winning 2-1 in that contest.
The Oilers will have a chance at redemption this season against the Panthers after beating the Dallas Stars in five games in the Western Conference final.
Before that, the Canadiens met with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2021 Cup final, where they lost in five games, and the Lightning won the Stanley Cup for a second consecutive season.
This was when Montreal came out of the all-Canadian North Division. They were the last seed in that division and defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs in a famous comeback series win after Toronto led the series 3-1.
One decade before the Habs’ Cup final appearance, the Canucks challenged the Boston Bruins for Lord Stanley’s cup in 2011. Despite Vancouver scoring three goals past Tim Thomas in only one game, this series went the distance, with the Bruins ultimately winning 4-0 in Game 7. The Bruins’ goaltender went on to win the Conn Smythe.
After the series was over, the citizens of Vancouver sparked the famous riot. A moment that hockey fans won’t forget anytime soon.
Between 2004 and 2007, three Canadian teams featured in the Stanley Cup final in three straight seasons. The Flames lost to the Lightning in 2004, the Oilers lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006, and the Senators lost to the Anaheim Ducks in 2007.
There was no Stanley Cup winner in 2005 due to the lockout season.
Vancouver played in the final the season after the Canadiens won the Cup, where they lost to the New York Rangers 3-2 in Game 7 of the 1994 final. The Rangers ended their 54-year Stanley Cup drought with this victory.
That was the second-to-last season where the league had eight Canadian teams. In 1995-96, the Quebec Nordiques became the Colorado Avalanche and won the Stanley Cup that year.
Nonetheless, it’s been 32 years since Canada last owned the Stanley Cup, and the Oilers now have another opportunity to end that drought.
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