Yahoo Sports Stanley Cup Final: Edmonton facing daunting odds to break Canada's championship drought
The Florida Panthers hold a 2-0 lead over the Edmonton Oilers in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. Florida's outscored Edmonton 7-1 over the first two matchups with Game 3 set for tonight at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.
This game is crucial for the Oilers; history is not in their favor if they drop a third straight game. In Stanley Cup Final history, a team down 2-0 has won that series 9.3% of the time (five times in 54 instances). The most recent team to do so was the Boston Bruins in 2011 who won 4-3 over the Vancouver Canucks.
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But move that to a 3-0 deficit and things are even more daunting. Only four teams have ever come back from that deficit in NHL playoff history (roughly 2%) and only one team did that in the Stanley Cup Final: the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs.
Edmonton broke an 18-year Stanley Cup Final drought this season. The Oilers are just the second Canadian team in the last 15 years to even reach the Final. Game 3 will go a long way to determining if they can break one of the NHL's longest droughts - a Canadian team winning the Stanley Cup - that started three decades ago.
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When was the last time a Canadian NHL team won the Stanley Cup?
The last Canadian team to win a Stanley Cup was the Montreal Canadiens in 1993. More than two-thirds of active NHL players were born after the Canadiens won the title.
In the 31 years since then, a Canadian team has reached the Stanley Cup Final just six times: the Canucks (1994 and 2011), Calgary Flames (2004), Oilers (2006), Ottawa Senators (2007), and Canadiens (2021).
For the country that invented the sport as we know it, that's a stark difference from the first seven decades of the NHL. Most of the league's history is dominated by Canadian franchises racking up titles. Since 1918, Montreal, Toronto, and Edmonton alone have won 41 of the league's titles compared to the 56 titles all American-based teams have won in that time.
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History of Canadian NHL teams in the Stanley Cup Final
In the decades prior to the Canadiens' 1993 Stanley Cup, Canadian teams were regularly fighting for and winning NHL championships. Canadian franchises appeared in 44 of the first 49 NHL championship series and won 34 of them.
Pre-Original Six era (1918-1942)
A Canadian franchise won the first 10 NHL championships and at least appeared in the final series in 21 of the first 24 years of the league.
Year | Winner | Runner-Up | Notes |
1918 | Toronto Arenas | Montreal Canadiens | The Arenas later became the St. Patricks in 1919 and the Maple Leafs in 1927. |
1919 | Montreal Canadiens | Ottawa Senators | |
1920 | Ottawa Senators | Seattle Metropolitans | Metropolitans of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) |
1921 | Ottawa Senators | Toronto St. Patricks | |
1922 | Toronto St. Patricks | Ottawa Senators | |
1923 | Ottawa Senators | Montreal Canadiens | |
1924 | Montreal Canadiens | Ottawa Senators | |
1925 | Montreal Canadiens | Hamilton Tigers | Tigers folded in 1925. |
1926 | Montreal Maroons | Ottawa Senators | Maroons franchise ran from 1924 to 1947. |
1927 | Ottawa Senators | Boston Bruins | |
1928 | New York Rangers | Montreal Maroons | |
1929 | Boston Bruins | New York Rangers | |
1930 | Montreal Canadiens | Boston Bruins | |
1931 | Montreal Canadiens | Chicago Black Hawks | |
1932 | Toronto Maple Leafs | New York Rangers | |
1933 | New York Rangers | Toronto Maple Leafs | |
1935 | Montreal Maroons | Toronto Maple Leafs | |
1936 | Detroit Red Wings | Toronto Maple Leafs | |
1938 | Chicago Black Hawks | Toronto Maple Leafs | |
1939 | Boston Bruins | Toronto Maple Leafs | |
1940 | New York Rangers | Toronto Maple Leafs | |
1942 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Detroit Red Wings |
Original Six era (1943-1967)
Starting in the 1942-1943 season, the league only featured six teams: Chicago Black Hawks, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Detroit Red Wings, and Boston Bruins.
In this era, a Canadian team made the NHL championship series 23 of 25 years and won 19 championships.
Year | Winner | Runner-Up |
1944 | Montreal Canadiens | Chicago Black Hawks |
1945 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Detroit Red Wings |
1946 | Montreal Canadiens | Boston Bruins |
1947 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Montreal Canadiens |
1948 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Detroit Red Wings |
1949 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Detroit Red Wings |
1950 | Detroit Red Wings | New York Rangers |
1951 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Montreal Canadiens |
1952 | Detroit Red Wings | Montreal Canadiens |
1953 | Montreal Canadiens | Boston Bruins |
1954 | Detroit Red Wings | Montreal Canadiens |
1955 | Detroit Red Wings | Montreal Canadiens |
1956 | Montreal Canadiens | Detroit Red Wings |
1957 | Montreal Canadiens | Boston Bruins |
1958 | Montreal Canadiens | Boston Bruins |
1959 | Montreal Canadiens | Toronto Maple Leafs |
1960 | Montreal Canadiens | Toronto Maple Leafs |
1962 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Chicago Black Hawks |
1963 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Detroit Red Wings |
1964 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Detroit Red Wings |
1965 | Montreal Canadiens | Chicago Black Hawks |
1966 | Montreal Canadiens | Detroit Red Wings |
1967 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Montreal Canadiens |
Modern era (1968-present)
Starting in the 1967-68 season, the NHL expanded beyond the Original Six teams with 12 that season. The league's since grown to 32 teams, seven of which are in Canada.
Year | Winner | Runner-Up | Notes |
1968 | Montreal Canadiens | St. Louis Blues | |
1969 | Montreal Canadiens | St. Louis Blues | |
1971 | Montreal Canadiens | Chicago Black Hawks | |
1973 | Montreal Canadiens | Chicago Black Hawks | |
1976 | Montreal Canadiens | Philadelphia Flyers | |
1977 | Montreal Canadiens | Boston Bruins | |
1978 | Montreal Canadiens | Boston Bruins | |
1979 | Montreal Canadiens | New York Rangers | First season after the NHL-WHA merger |
1982 | New York Islanders | Vancouver Canucks | |
1983 | New York Islanders | Edmonton Oilers | |
1984 | Edmonton Oilers | New York Islanders | |
1985 | Edmonton Oilers | Philadelphia Flyers | |
1986 | Montreal Canadiens | Calgary Flames | |
1987 | Edmonton Oilers | Philadelphia Flyers | |
1988 | Edmonton Oilers | Boston Bruins | |
1989 | Calgary Flames | Montreal Canadiens | |
1990 | Edmonton Oilers | Boston Bruins | |
1993 | Montreal Canadiens | Los Angeles Kings | |
1994 | New York Rangers | Vancouver Canucks | |
2004 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Calgary Flames | |
2006 | Carolina Hurricanes | Edmonton Oilers | |
2007 | Anaheim Ducks | Ottawa Senators | |
2011 | Boston Bruins | Vancouver Canucks | |
2021 | Tampa Bay Lightning | Montreal Canadiens |
2024 Stanley Cup Final: Odds, how to watch, and schedule
The Panthers are favored to win the title and keep Canada's Stanley Cup drought going, per BetMGM odds.
Moneyline: Florida (-550), Edmonton (+400)
Games | Location | Date/Time/Results | TV/Streaming |
Game 1 | Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise, Florida | Florida 3, Edmonton 0 | ABC, ESPN+ |
Game 2 | Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise, Florida | Florida 4, Edmonton 1 | ABC, ESPN+ |
Game 3 | Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta | Thursday, June 13 at 8 p.m. ET | ABC, ESPN+ |
Game 4 | Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta | Saturday, June 15 at 8 p.m. ET | ABC, ESPN+ |
Game 5(If necessary) | Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise, Florida | Tuesday, June 18 at 8 p.m. ET | ABC, ESPN+ |
Game 6(If necessary) | Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta | Friday, June 21 at 8 p.m. ET | ABC, ESPN+ |
Game 7(If necessary) | Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise, Florida | Monday, June 24 at 8 p.m. ET | ABC, ESPN+ |
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stanley Cup Final Game 3 could make or break Edmonton, Canada's hopes
