It’s been 33 long years since a Canadian-based NHL team won the Stanley Cup. That year, an unheralded Montreal Canadiens team went 10-1 in overtime games in the playoffs and stood in the way of Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings winning a championship that just might have changed the NHL game forever.
That post-season was a year of upsets that was supposed to be the crowning moment for Mario Lemieux and the Pittsburgh Penguins, who should have won their third consecutive trophy and become one of hockey’s greatest dynasties. It also marked the first time Gary Bettman presented the Stanley Cup in his long tenure as NHL commissioner.
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At no time since that night in Montreal in 1993 has Bettman presented the cup to a Canadian-based NHL team. Since then, Vancouver, Edmonton, Ottawa, Calgary and Montreal have all had chances to win the trophy, only to have the disappointment of having the commissioner deliver it to their opponent. Only Toronto and Winnipeg haven’t gone far enough to even have that chance to be disappointed.
Friday night in Buffalo, where the Sabres host the Canadiens in Game 2 of their playoff series, one has to wonder if we will have a better idea of whether that more than three-decade drought will end this season.
This edition of the Canadiens has become one of the most entertaining teams in the NHL. They have been able to combine their youthful style with speed and talent and become a poster child for how to rebuild a team through the draft, and done it all the while being transparent with the most demanding fanbase in the NHL.
Now, I must admit, there is some irony that a team named “Canadiens” has become successful through the hard work of players from Canada, the United States, Czechia, Russia, Slovakia, France and Sweden, but such is the world game of hockey. Not only has the style of hockey this Montreal team plays become the envy of the league, but also how they have rebuilt this squad in rather short order. As most of you know, this is a copycat league, and what Montreal is accomplishing — or rather has accomplished — will have others in the NHL asking the question, why can’t we do that too?
If it were only that easy.
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