Stanley Cup Might Just Be Coming Back to Canada this Year

Fri, May 17, 2024
by CapperTek

A Canadian team will compete in the Western Conference Final this year. The Toronto Maple Leafs almost gave Canada a shot on the other side of the bracket, but an overtime winner saw them bow out in the First Round for the fourth time in five seasons, as CBC reports. Instead, Canada’s hopes of a Stanley Cup-winning team lie with the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks.

The two meet in the Second Round for a chance to battle either the Dallas Stars or the Colorado Avalanche in the penultimate stage of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. After that, a Canadian team will be halfway towards winning the Cup. It’s a big deal for the NHL and its ever-present fan base above the border, but is this really the year the Cup will come back to Canada?

A Canadian Stanley Cup winner would be a huge deal

Hockey has a lot of fans around the world, from the western edge of North America to the eastern side of Europe. It’s why the NHL has a truly international audience and the sport is beloved in so many different forms.

It’s popular as a theme for movies and TV shows like Goon and The Mighty Ducks as well as in the form of games like Break Through: Lock 2 Spin. Found at the best-rated platform, according to the work of casinoalpha, it’s one of thousands of slots. Yet, plenty of players claim the deposit bonus and no-deposit free spins and then click on Break Through. So, while hockey is very much a popular international sport, and the NHL has fans around the world, it’s the Canadian fan base that is particularly important to the NHL – greatly because of the dedication of the fans and its constant production of world-class players.

As such, the Stanley Cup drought experienced by the country’s seven teams is stark, to say the least. It was way back in 1993 that a Canadian last hoisted the coveted trophy, which saw the Montréal Canadiens beat the Los Angeles Kings in five games to secure the team’s 24th title.  Since then, five other Finals have seen a Canadian team land runner-up, but this year, the platform with Break Through fancy the Oilers at +425 to finally win the Cup again.

Will Canada get its Cup back?

While the Vancouver Canucks did finish on top of the Pacific Division with 109 points, the Edmonton Oilers were arguably the most impressive team in the division once they shrugged off the early slip-ups. Under Jay Woodcroft, the Oilers started 3-9-1, and during that spell, as the NHL website details, Vancouver beat their fellow Canadian team three times.

In came Kris Knoblauch, and with him, winning ways. Edmonton surged to a 46-18-5 record to finish the season and carried the momentum into the playoffs with a 4-1 series win over the Los Angeles Kings. Of course, the Canucks were the more consistent of the two over the course of the whole season, but did meet some resistance from the Nashville Predators, needing six games to get to the Second Round.

The Oilers entered the Second Round as the favorites to win it all. However, even though the Canucks are a very strong team, the Dallas Stars would present an even tougher opponent in the Western Conference Finals, and then it’d be on to the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes, or Florida Panthers.

Even if the Oilers or Canucks manage to walk through to the Western Conference Finals, there’s a long way to go before either could be deemed clear-cut favorites to return the Stanley Cup to Canada.