For over 30 years, the winner of the National Hockey League’s top prize has gone to an American team. It’s a sorry legacy for a country where ice hockey is not just a sport, but part of the national identity. About 40% of players in the NHL, across all teams, are Canadian - more than any other country.
Last year, the Oilers flopped during the final game of the seven-game series against the Florida Panthers.
It’s a sore point for many Canadians that the league’s most die-hard fans have gone so long without a trophy, and yet remain willing to spend big money and travel big distances to support their team.
Have they tried playing defense with even so much as pretense of giving a shit about keeping the puck out of their net, at all? I didn’t see it from the Oilers.
Also, who are these Canadians for whom this is a sore point, outside Edmonton? Fans of every other Canadian NHL team are on cloud 9 right now gloating over the Oilers’ humiliation. This is a team that theirs compete against, they are going to get fuck all out of watching that team win instead of theirs, and nationality is 1,000% meaningless. To give a shit about this, you need to either be a quasi-fan of the game of hockey but not any particular team, or a hack reporter who certainly isn’t going to come up with real analysis and has to pinch off a drama turd instead.