Maybe this doesn’t belong in a Friday Funday piece, but it’s been over 30 years since a Canadian hockey team won the Stanley Cup. The last time was 1993, when the Montréal Canadiens still needed an extraordinary performance from their legendary goaltender to win it all over Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings. Since then, Canadian hockey clubs have gone a collective 0-7 in the Cup Finals, strangely.

Let’s look at each situation since 1993:

  • 1994 Vancouver Canucks: This barely-.500 team (41-40-3) caught fire in the postseason, beating two of its Canadian brethren (Calgary, Toronto) on the way to the Finals. The Canucks also beat the Dallas Stars, but against the New York Rangers, the team was facing a destiny-driven group on a mission to win the Rangers’ first title since 1940. It took seven games for New York to end Vancouver’s dream.
  • 2004 Calgary Flames: This group played a lot of postseason matches, going 15-11 overall. Taking out the Detroit Red Wings and the San Jose Sharks on the way to the Cup Finals was very impressive, considering the team’s third-place finish in the Northwest Division. But like the Canucks above, Calgary’s luck ran out in the Finals, as the Tampa Bay Lightning emerged victorious in seven games despite the Flames’ coming home for Game 6 with a 3-2 lead in the series. This was pure heartbreak.
  • 2006 Edmonton Oilers: Another team that finished third in the Northwest, these Oilers overcame the Red Wings and the Sharks, too, powers in the conference, before beating the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the Western Conference Finals to advance. In a seeming pattern, however, Edmonton could not close the deal in the Cup Finals, losing in seven games to the Carolina Hurricanes.
  • 2007 Ottawa Senators: Since there was no season in 2004-2005, this marked the third time in a row a Canadian team lost in the Cup Finals. The Senators rolled into the Finals with a 12-3 record, but then they themselves ran into an unstoppable force in the Ducks, losing in five games to end their miraculous run through the postseason. Was it better or worse to not lose in seven games? You decide.
  • 2011 Vancouver Canucks: Like the 2004 Flames, this team was at home for Game 7 and failed to deliver Lord Stanley’s chalice to the nation. The Canucks had the best record in the regular season, but they struggled in the playoffs initially before rolling the Sharks in the Western Conference Finals. Facing the Boston Bruins, though, proved to be too much for the tired Vancouver roster in the end, sadly.
  • 2021 Montréal Canadiens: Another decade passed before a team from north of the border made it back to the Cup Finals, and this time it was the Habs. Despite finishing fourth in their Covid-altered division, the Canadiens beat Toronto and Winnipeg in the first two rounds to knock out two other teams from their own country. After beating the Vegas Golden Knights, Montréal faced the defending champion Lightning in the Finals and fell apart, losing in five games. It was just was not to be this time.
  • 2024 Edmonton Oilers: Like the Canucks, the Oilers have come up short twice in Game 7 of the Cup Finals in the last 30-plus seasons. After many seasons of underperformance, Edmonton finally reached the championship round, only to fall in seven games to the team that had lost in the Finals the year before (Florida). It was a small consolation to have an Oilers star player win the Conn Smythe.

Five of the seven situations above came down to a Game 7, which is rough. The good news is that in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, there are five Canadian teams in the field. We always want to see one of them win it all, although it’s always a tough challenge. Look for our first-round predictions here tomorrow, in fact. We never guarantee we are correct in our analyses, but it’s always fun to try to guess which way the puck goes.