The 1993 Montreal Canadians were the last Canadian team to win the NHL’s biggest prize.
Much has been made about Canada’s playoff woes over the last few decades. Since the Montreal Canadiens in 1993, exactly 0 Canadian teams have hoisted Lord Stanley’s Cup. It goes even deeper than that as there have been few successful attempts at Canada even having a shot in the finals. In 1994 Vancouver took their shot and lost in seven games. Canada did not make it back to the championship round until 2004 when the Darryl Sutter led Calgary Flames flamed out to Tampa Bay in seven games. Fresh out of the lockout season in 2005 Canada had two chances and squandered both with Edmonton falling to Carolina in seven games in 2006 and Ottawa falling to Anaheim in 2007. In 2011 the Sedin sisters took Canada’s most recent attempt at glory with Vancouver falling to the Boston Bruins in seven games.
The playoff failures of Canada have been the perfect storm induced by some poor play, some bad luck and the dominance of a specific set of teams over the past 25 years. If the Vancouver Canucks didn’t have to play through powerhouse teams like Chicago, San Jose, and Los Angeles every year in at least two rounds of the playoffs they could have made multiple runs at the Championship. Alas, that was not the case and Canada’s woes carried on.
Will 2018 be the year that Canada returns to glory? I am not yet convinced that this is the year but am encouraged that a deep run can be made. The Eastern conference would seem to give the best opportunity for Canada to return to glory here are the reasons why these three teams from the East conference could win the championship:
Ottawa Senators: Great goaltending, solid defense, and timely scoring is typically a great formula for success in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Craig Anderson is solid with backup Mike Condon one of the better backups in the league. Erik Karlsson like Shea Webber is one of the top two way defenders in the league. Where this team lacked last year and in my opinion will lack again this year is goal scoring. That will be their downfall this year. If they plan on doing well this year and returning to the Eastern Conference finals and beyond, goal differential needs to improve. More timely scoring, namely power play goals, will also need to improve. I give this team a fair chance to make it to the playoffs but feel that they will not make as much noise as they did in last year’s push for the cup.
Montreal Canadiens: Although they had a rocky start to their preseason, this team has potential to win both the Atlantic division and the East overall. Their last two games where they handled Florida and beat up on Ottawa are much more indicative of the damage they could do this season. Coached by Claude Julien, this team is sure to be disciplined in their approach, with great defense and solid goaltending. This is the formula that worked for Julien to win the Stanley Cup in 2011 seems to be the formula he is going with for this team. This team is loaded with star power overall. Team captain Max Pacioretty looked world class at times last year, Andrew Shaw is a scrappy forward who will continue to show grit for this team and of course, Shea Webber continues to be a great two-way defender. If Brendan Gallagher can get back to his 2014- 2015 form it will add much-needed depth to this team. All in all, again this teams fate depends on the ability to stay healthy at goalie and defense. I like this teams odds and give the second best odds of the Eastern conference Canadian teams to win the cup in 2018.
Toronto Maple Leafs: I believe that Toronto will take the biggest step forward and will challenge all the teams in the East for the chance to represent the East in the Stanley Cup finals. Mike Babcock, one of the best coaches in the NHL has had an additional offseason to get his team prepared. Auston Matthews will undoubtedly continue to grow his legend, he may even take over the top American NHL player this year. They have tremendous depth at Center and it should only get better with some of the young talents they have. For all you DFS players out there if Auston Matthews, Patrick Marleau, and William Nylander play together it could end up being one of the most skilled lines in the league. Where this team could potentially fall is depth at goalie. I cannot see a situation where Andersen continues playing 60+ games a year without some type of fall off. Overall the expectations are high, they crushed expectations last year. I feel as if I am rewatching what happened with the Blackhawks in 2008 and beyond, and man am I excited to see the Toronto Maple leafs potential return to glory this year.
