Is it a Mystry, Myth or a Conspricy? Diving into the reasons Why Canada hasn't won a Cup in 24 years

The year was 1993. The Prime Minister was Brian Mulroney, gas was a jaw dropping 25 cents per liter and Disney's The Lion King was still a year a way from coming out in theatres.


In the spring of 1993, the Montreal Canadians won their 24th Stanley Cup. Almost a quarter century has past and that remains Canada's last. 23 straight times the Stanley Cup will be hoisted by an American team. Is it a flue, unluckiness or just straight the way its going to be.


Five teams have gotten to the Cup Finals. Vancouver twice and Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa only once respectively.

The law of averages would illustrate that every 30 years, a Canadian team would win the Cup seven times. Well, that is certainly not happening. Since 1987 five times. However, the Cups were only shared by three teams. Edmonton, Calgary and Montreal.

Is Canada cursed or is there some kind of conspiracy? To determine this fairly, we have to look at a few angles.

Firstly, from 1942 t0 1993, a Canadian team won the Cup 34 times. (Mostly thanks to Montreal) Therefore, to say that there is a conspiracy against the Canadian teams is wrong. At-least there is no full blown conspiracy.

Did someone mention conspiracy? Since the lockout in 2006. Canadian teams in general have not fared well in the playoffs an even in the regular season. The first time I heard the word conspiracy in regards the NHL was after the 2007 Stanley Cup Final when Anaheim defeated Ottawa in five. At first, I didn't believe it but since 2011 I believe that Commissioner Gary Betman  wants an American to win a Cup. NBCSN's ratings will go up if two American teams are in the Cup Finals and it helps grow exposure to the regions that are in a Cup which indirectly grows the game in general. This can't be said for Canadian teams as interest is already through the roof.

Secondly, lets examine unluckiness. In 23 years, five teams ventured on to the Final series however only one team had a realistic shot at winning it which was the 2011 Vancouver Canucks. The other four teams were Cinderella's playing with house money and almost just happy to be there.

More importantly, The Stanley Cup is often met with increased pressure as each round goes by. In a Canadian market, each bad play has a chance to be spotlighted in the paper the next morning. This can be hard for players to get over the top. We all know, that winning the Cup is the hardest trophy to win in sports. Everything needs to fall in place and with so much pressure on the #1 attraction in the city can be detrimental on players trying to do something special for a city.

To continue, Canadian teams  have increased travel that other teams don't. During a 82 game season, two months more in the playoffs the travel miles can add up fast. This can ware out a 20 man roster over a seven month season.

Putting this all together, Canada hasn't seen a  Cup Champion for 23 years for a variety of reasons. There is a slight conspiracy but nothing over blown that has made it completely obvious. The real reasons why a Canadian team hasn't won a Cup in 24 years is because of extra travel and increased pressure to preform well in a Canadian city.  

 

Tottenham Hotspur fan in Canada - Last Post

I honestly can't believe how good Tottenham has become. The last two games, 6-1 over Leicester and 7-1 over Hull City. Complete domination. Barcelona like in their Spanish league.

Now it's over. The season that was so good is now over. I don't understand how Tottenham has gotten so good. To me, the best team in the league was Tottenham. Not Chelsea. If Kane wasn't injured in the Fall, Tottenham would have won the league.

White Hart Lane is over and now the season is over. I'm still curious what would have materialized if the Spurs played their Champions League games at White Hart Lane. I think they would have gotten out of the Group Stage at least. Their three games at "home" in the Group Stage were all dull and flat. I should have recorded them and re-watched them now or over the summer.

Next year is going to feel awkward. I have a hard time accepting that. If they play as bad as they did at Wembley next year they can forget about the Champions League the year after or even the Europa League.

This team is likely too good to keep all of these players. Some will have to move on, The last half of the season, Tottenham made everything look easy. Like, where was this the last 30 years?

No more games that mean anything until mid-August. The schedule will come out in mid June. The next big soccer thing for Spurs fans will be the England match at Scotland on June 10th. However, England should qualify for Russia 2018 easily.

Thanks for reading, I look forward to doing this in the weeks to come.

Tottenham Fan in Canada #3 - 2017

Second place in the EPL is all sealed up with Tottenham's 2-1 win over Manchester United during White Hart Lane's final game ever.

I didn't get a chance to watch it, unfortunately it was on a channel I didn't get. Soon, I'm looking to set up a strategy where I never miss a game. However, because it was Mothers Day Weekend I went back to my childhood house to spend time with family.

I saw on Facebook that it was 2-0 Spurs in the 55th minute. I was surprised but why should I be. Tottenham dominated at home this year and last year against United the Spurs were 3-0 winners.

I watched the game later that night on Tape Delay. The final 20 minutes were emotional for me. Don't understand why we had to get to this point. A stadium that looks newish is getting demolished. Being replaced with what looks to me as another big stadium, something like that already exists in Arsenal and Manchester City.

I saw images of Arsenal's old ground a few weeks ago. Despite it looking old it had a humble look to it.

My ideal stadium would have the stands right on the action, the old stadiums had that. The newer ones seem to be farther away. Money is taking over a game that was once filled with passion and heart.

Two games remain, both on the road. Tottenham will try to get revenge over falling short to Leicester last year in the Title race. It was a 1-0 win for the Foxes at WHL that kick started their title surge last year. That win got their fans believing that winning the Title was a reality. In fact, Tottenham was one of the only teams not to play at the King Power Stadium before Leicester became a sensation as the game on the road against Leicester happened early in the year that ended in a 1-1 draw.

I'll have to find somewhere to watch it as I don't think the match is on TV tomorrow. The next time I'll post will be Tuesday as I will be at my Grandmas this weekend.

Could Jake Virtanen be Traded?

Is Jake Virtanen safe this offseason? The sixth overall pick in the 2014 draft has had a disappointing start to his NHL career. In two seasons he has only played in 65 games, scoring seven goals and tailing another seven assists. He spent most of his time last year in the AHL and didn't preform much better. 

People will question if he will ever succeed in Vancouver. His hometown, as he grew up just an hour ago away. The thought is, the Canucks management isn't ready to give up on Virtanen yet. They hired his AHL coach from Utica to be the new Canucks coach, therefore all signs point to him getting more than a fair chance of making the team next year. 

What if it doesn't work out. You ran the risk of getting next to nothing from a once promising player. 

So would the Canucks consider trading Virtanen? As it is, there might not be room for Virtanen next year with so many young guys about to join the fold. 

For some possible partners, how about the Florida Panthers? Vancouver and Florida are due for their annual player swap and a player like Thomas Vanek might be appealing for Vancouver. 

Vanek produced 48 points between Detroit and Florida last year which would have been good for third in scoring for Vancouver. It isn't a secret but Vancouver needs some scoring. No matter how well Virtanen does next year he isn't scoring 48 points. In other words, the Canucks improve their team next year at least in the short term while creating some Virbata like magic has high reward. At 2.6 Million cap hit he isn't that expensive to roll the dice a bit. 

For Florida, the chances of competing for a Cup next year are slim and at 33, the opportunity to get a underachieving prospect for a 33 year old is good value with nothing to lose. 

For Vancouver, there is a risk factor involved. Virtanen still could be a star. How I see it though, if Vanek turns out to be a bust, by October of 2018 players like Adam Gaudette, Nikolay Goldobin and Jonathan Dahlén will hopefully be playing well that the Canucks won't be missing Virtanen if he ends up turning his career around. 

The reward for Vancouver is somewhat high as well. Vanek would add a present to the lineup that was missing last year. 

I don't see Benning pulling the trigger on this trade, at this time I don't see him speeding up this rebuild but I would hate to get nothing for Virtanen. 

Tottenham Hotspur Fan in Canada #2 - 2017

Sunday afternoon in North London will be an end of a era for Tottenham Hotspur as they will play their final game at White Hart Lane when Manchester United will be the team wanting to spoil the party.

This will be a sad day for me, despite only being a Spurs fan for only four years but White Hart Lane was one of the reasons why Tottenham appealed to me. White Hart Lane was the perfect stadium. It wasn't too small like Shelhurst Park but it also wasn't overly big like Old Trafford.

Now, I hope the new stadium is at least normal. Unlike Wembley Stadium that seems like it's way too big.

Four years ago, Tottenham had trouble winning home games. They dropped points too bottom of the table teams fairly often. This year, it has been polar opposite. In the EPL this year it has been 16 Wins, 2 draws. An impeccable record if you ask me.

White Hart Lane has gone over renovation after renovation that it just seems silly to get rid of it now. Feels like they are losing part of their identity. That identity is what made Tottenham unique and separated themselves from United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea.

With the Title race potentially done and dusted by Sunday. Tottenham will try to go out in style and leave with one last entertaining game.

The game won't be on TV for me in Canada, last week's loss AT West Ham wasn't either but I caught the game somewhere else.

The United game last year at WHL resulted in the Red Devils being late to the stadium and a 3-0 Spurs win.

This year, United have it all to play for. Fighting for a Champions League place. However, depending on how their game goes today, they might not be aiming for a Top 4 spot but instead be focused on the Europa League Final.

Is Oilers - Ducks the Next Great Rivalry?

It's not quite Gretzky vs the Leafs in 1993 at the Maple Leaf Gardens, a Stanley Cup berth isn't at stake quite yet but the Game 7 tomorrow night between the Anaheim Ducks and Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers has must see TV written all over it. 

If you haven't heard yet, Connor McDavid is the greatest thing the NHL has seen since Sidney Crosby bursted on the seance in 2006. The Ducks have all the experience but in a pressure packed Game 7 it might be the team that has nothing to lose that has the advantage on Wednesday night. 

According to a Toronto Sun article in 2013, 4 Million people watched on TV the LA Kingsdefeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 in Game 7. I'm curious to see what the TV ratings are tomorrow night when Edmonton travels to the arena that is closest to Disneyland as the fans await the script tat is going to play out at 10 ET on NBCSN. 

The script that has played out over the first six games has already been storybook. Two major meltdown's by Edmonton in Game's 4 and 5 was followed up by a an Oilers slaughtering in Game 6 that saw the Oilers win 7-1 and force a decisive Game 7 with the winner eight wins away from winning the Stanley Cup. 

With the NBA playoffs being anything but exciting this year, two Game 7's back to back featuring the three best players in the game should capture the American audience as well. 

If tomorrow night doesn't, what the hec will? The NHL is at a pivotal point right now, The sports next superstar is playing in Edmonton, a city where three quarters of Americans might not be able to pin point on a map in a game that would be similar to pin the tail on the donkey. 

Who knows, this might be the last Crosby - Ovechkin Game 7 we have. What will NBCSN have to advertise after the two stars that have dominated for over the last decade retire? 

I can't see NBC getting too excited about promoting the battle of Alberta. As good as it would be for Western Canada, it won't happen anytime soon. Both the Sharks and Kings are getting older, hec the Kings didn't even make the playoffs. That leaves the Ducks  the only remaining divisional rival that will give Edmonton any competition. 

The thought might be a bit premature, but it is still fun to imagine what NBC would do without Pittsburgh and Washington being the two great rivals they are now. 

If Ducks - Oilers is a preview of what the future holds in the NHL, lets hope that tomorrow's Game 7 is a instant classic. 

Tottenham Fan in Canada Post 1 - 2017

Growing up in Canada there are a lot of advantages. Being able to to have a bunch of sports on TV isn't one of them, unless you are a fan of Hockey and Soccer that is.



Growing up I played youth soccer and I enjoyed it actually except for the cold weather consistently week in week out. I didn't understand the relegation format and considering that internet wasn't what it was back in 2001, it wasn't like it was that big of a deal. In fact, back then, Sportsnet would show about four games a week. Seemed to me that it was the same teams on every week.



There was also one other problem. I lived in Vancouver. That means that the middle wave of soccer games was at 7am, a tad too early and Champions League happened when I was at school.

I graduated in 2011 and started to catch on to the Premier League that August. That year Man City won the title in dramatic injury time and Tottenham got robbed of Champions League place.

I still think it's unfair that the Spurs got denied a place just because Chelsea won the UCL but finished 6th and therefore knocked Tottenham out. White Hart Lane was home to at the time  one of the best young players in the game so it seemed that Tottenham Hotspur had a strong future.

The next year was again crushing. The inability to defend plus the unfortunate Europa League hangovers were Spurs undoing in 2013. Gareth Bale continued to turn heads and was rumoured to bolt to Real Madrid if the team didn't secure Champions League.

Now, my thoughts on the Gareth Bale saga would amount to a blog post alone but the fact that the Spurs were thinking of getting rid of one of the best players in the world seemed mind boggling. It isn't the North American way of building a Title contending team that's for sure.

Not only was the start of the 2013 season a new era for Spurs, it was also a new era for NBCSN which signed a deal to show the Premier League across the Atlantic.

I decided to make an effort to watch the EPL and get up early on weekends. The Spurs first game was against newly promoted Crystal Palace. TSN picked up the NBCSN coverage and I really enjoyed the match with Tottenham squeaking past Palace 1-0.

That year was inconsistent. A terrible goal differential despite managing to finish 6th in the Table. Nevertheless, it was a good intro year for me.

The next year saw more the same. Brutal defense and a struggling home record at the start was the Spurs downfall. At this point, I was starting to wonder whether the Spurs would yo-yo between 5th and 6th in the EPL forever.

Something changed the following year, For me it was damage control. Too many draws in the early part of last year became a blessing for Tottenham. On December 13th 2015, a 2-1 loss to Newcastle was the last of the old Spurs. They have seemingly said enough was enough and have been a different team. After that game until Leicester clinched the Title Spurs went 14-5-2 with the only two losses to Leicester and West Ham.

The Newcastle game and the emergence of Dele Ali, Toby Alderweireld and Heung-min Son have changed Tottenham's fortunes for maybe decades to come. Mauricio Pochettino has found a home in North London and has ambitions of turning this club into a European powerhouse.

The chase for the Title last year wasn't an anomaly. It was signs of what was to come in the future. Despite having the fifth best odds to win the EPL title this year, I had a feeling this was going to be a special year.

Like last year, this year started with a unbeaten stretch that saw them go the first 12 games without a loss. A few draws maybe should have been wins but the reverse could have been said about some of those draws as well.

Similarly, it was a mid December loss this year that has kick started a furious climb up the ranks and a chance for a epic photo finish at the end of the season with Chelsea. Another London Derby beckons in the balance on Friday night at the Olympic Stadium. A win and Tottenham would still need Chelsea to slip up twice.   Considering that Chelsea play at Stamford Bridge three more times this year, the odds are stacked against them.

Whether Chelsea drop points or not shouldn't determine if this season was a success or not. It already has been. Last Sunday proved that Tottenham is the new Arsenal and Arsenal is the new Tottenham. In other words, Tottenham is now the team to beat in North London and Arsenal is now the little brother that isn't nearly as good.

     

The EPL Coverage in Canada

One thing that has really bothered me over the last few years as been the inconsistency of EPL soccer games shown on Sportsnet and TSN.

From my understanding, TSN and Sportsnet get 190 each. Well that seems great, it is very misleading. Sportsnet divides their games up between SN Regional, SN1 SN360 and SN World. In contrast, TSN splits up their games between the five TSN channels. Therefore, unless you have basic cable, your pretty much safe.

However, Sportsnet rips people off putting a handful of games on their specialty channel Sportsnet World. It's a complete money grab by Sportsnet World to try to get you to pay for the channel which is hard to fathom unless soccer is your #1 sport.

On the other hand USA's coverage shows less games but the coverage is more consistent. They show about 228 games on NBCSN, CNBC and NBC. All accessible to the middle class Americans. The good thing that NBCSN does is they make a effort to show the Sunday, Monday and Friday games. Something that Canadian TV does a very poor job about.

It is what it is, I guess we will have to deal with it until something changes.