Canada’s Stanley Cup drought just hit a painful new milestone – 32 years without hockey’s biggest prize heading north of the border.
The Edmonton Oilers’ crushing 5-1 loss to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night added another chapter to what’s become an almost unbelievable story for Canadian hockey fans.
You’d have to be over 40 to clearly remember the last time a Canadian team hoisted the Cup. It was 1993 when the Montreal Canadiens beat the Los Angeles Kings for their 25th title.
Here’s a wild fact: The Baltimore Stallions won a Grey Cup (that’s the CFL championship) more recently than any Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup. The CFL isn’t even in the U.S. anymore – they left in 1996.
Canadian teams have had their chances. Eight of them, actually. They’ve lost every single time.
The Vancouver Canucks came up short twice – first against the Rangers in ’94, then against the Bruins in 2011. Calgary fell to Tampa Bay in 2003, and Ottawa couldn’t get past Anaheim in 2006. Montreal’s latest heartbreak came in 2021 against Tampa.
The Oilers? They’ve had it especially tough lately. Three Finals, three losses – to Carolina in ’06 and now back-to-back defeats to Florida in ’24 and ’25.
The drought’s been so long that two Canadian teams – the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets – haven’t even made it to the Finals since ’93.
There’s still hope, though. As long as Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are wearing Oilers jerseys, Edmonton’s got a shot at bringing the Cup back to Canada. But making it to a third straight Final next year? That’s gonna be really tough.
The pressure’s mounting. Canadian fans are hungry. And with each passing year, that 1993 championship feels more and more like ancient history.
