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.
No comments:
Post a Comment