The 28-year drought for Canada to again win a Stanley Cup is on the line

In the National Basketball Association, the lone Canadian team, the Toronto Raptors, recently won the championship and now rests in last place in the Eastern Conference, 22 games behind and not in the current playoffs.

But that only matters to the fans up in Toronto. Basketball is basketball and they are happy to be part of it, but in the National Hockey League it’s an all together different matter.

In Canada, hockey is its bread and butter, by far its most recognized sport.

The second most successful franchise behind the New York Yankees is the Montreal Canadiens, which has hoisted the prestigious Stanley Cup 25 times, a dozen times more than the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Montreal has played in a grand total of 30 Stanley Cups, Toronto in 21. Montreal has won a record 435 times since becoming an original NHL team in 1927. It was one of the original six, all based in Canada.

But in recent years Oh Canada has been in a drought, has not won the “Holy Grail”, the oh-mighty Stanley Cup that gets passed around from player to player and then raised around the ice to the roar of the fanatic fans, since the Canadiens did so in 1993.

In fact, from 1986 to 1993, Canada won the big prize seven straight times before the New York Islanders took the ice to win four in a row. That was a stellar team, but if you look at the history of the Montreal franchise, it was excellent from 1956-1960, and from 1966-1970 when it won four straight times.

Now it could be the end of the weary drought. Toronto now enters the post-season with the best record in the 31-team league. Sixteen of these teams are in the playoffs and the Maple Leafs have served notice. The last time they  appeared in the Stanley Cup was in the semifinals in 1993, losing to the Los Angeles Kings in seven games, then the Canadiens defeated the Kings in the final.

This year provides a great opportunity to end the 28-year drought. The NHL’s divisional playoff format actually guarantees a team from Canada will be in the final four. Stacked with talent and led by goal-scorer Auston Matthews and scarred by years of playoff failures, the Maple Leafs are the top seed and favored to emerge from the Northern Division playoffs.

That division is now known as the Scotia North, just as there’s the Honda West, the Discover Central, and the Mass Mutual East.

Now Toronto opens against Montreal while MVP favorite Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers face the Winnipeg Jets in the playoffs that have already begun.

But the Maple Leafs haven’t won a playoff series since 2004, and the franchise hasn’t won the Stanley Cup since 1967.

“It’s not a good feeling,” says defenseman Morgan Riley, “and you want to do what you can to not have that feeling again. We know how it feels to go home early, and that’s what we’re trying to avoid.”

Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas has added some size, grit and experience with Nick Foligno and fellow forwards Joe Thornton and Wayne Simmonds, along with 2020 cup-winning defenseman Zach Bogosian with the Tampa Bay Lighting.

Their goal was to add some more firepower to the skill provided by Matthews, captain John Tavares, Mitch Marner, and more.

The Maple Leafs aren’t the only scene of some crash-course learning. Edmonton and Winnipeg each got bounced from the playoff bubble in the qualifying round last summer.

“This team’s in a different spot then we were even a year ago,” says Oilers goaltender Mike Smith, “but saying that, it’s playoff hockey and Winnipeg’s a great team. They’re not in the playoffs by accident, so it’s going to be a dogfight and anything can happen.”

As for Edmonton’s McDavid, the team captain has posted a league-best 105 points in 56 games. The Jets’ best and only chance of advancing is containing McDavid and reigning MVP Leon Draisaitl.

“I’m definitely very excited for the opportunity and excited for the challenge,” says Winnipeg owner Mark Scheifele, “and I’m sure these guys are as well.”

So here we go, will Canada finally get to carry off another Stanley Cup? The challenge from the United States-based teams could come from the Colorado Avalanche, the Lighting, the Islanders, the St. Louis Blues, the Carolina Hurricanes, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Boston Bruins, and Las Vegas.

With this, it’s drop the puck and carry on to new heights say the die-hard Canadian fens.