With Playoffs Wide Open, Leafs or Oilers Have Good Chance of Ending Stanley Cup Drought

Toronto Maple Leafs fans react as Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly celebrates his goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning during first period NHL Stanley Cup playoff hockey action in Toronto on April 27, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Nathan Denette)

Two iconic hockey clubs have renewed hopes that a decades-long wait for a Stanley Cup win is over—both for themselves and for Canada. The Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers have been champions many times, but not recently. And Canada hasn’t had a Stanley Cup champion since the Montreal Canadiens won in 1993.

What’s more, the Stanley Cup playoffs are wide open, with the top team during the regular season—the record-setting Boston Bruins—eliminated in addition to the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche.

Last year, Toronto lost to two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games in the first round. This year, they beat the Lightning in six, advancing to the second round for the first time in 19 years. Sports talk show host Rod Pedersen says the progression bodes well and might just result in a championship.

“You need to learn how to lose before you learn how to win. It’s part of the process,” Pedersen said in an interview.

“That’s not to say that the Toronto Maple Leafs are gonna win the Stanley Cup, but this was a major door to kick in. Tampa Bay did it, Colorado did it, maybe Toronto will do it. But sometimes you need to suffer those tough lessons before you learn. It looks like the Leafs have.”

Toronto’s opponent, the Florida Panthers, defeated the Boston Bruins in seven games in round one. The Bruins won the President’s Trophy this season by winning 65 games, the most in NHL history. Florida’s upset was equally historic, and one Pedersen says the Leafs should be glad about.

“You want the road to be easier. I’ve been with championship teams. You need some luck along the way. It’s not always just about how you play. It’s going to be a major, major lucky charm for the Toronto Maple Leafs that they don’t have to go through Boston.”

Edmonton also got a break. Last year, they advanced to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2006. They lost to the Colorado Avalanche, which upset the Lightning to win the cup. This year, the Avalanche lost to the Seattle Kraken. The Oilers beat the L.A. Kings in six games but face stiff competition in the Las Vegas Golden Knights.

Pedersen projects the Leafs and the Golden Knights to win in six games. Moshe Lander, Canada’s pre-eminent sports economist and a senior lecturer at Concordia University, says Toronto’s second round bid is noteworthy no matter how it goes.

“It’s a big deal for Leafs fans, sure. It’s a big deal for us Leaf-haters. It’s nearing the end of the world. And for the Leafs ownership, it means an extra two, three, maybe even four guaranteed home games. Each one brings in $1–$2 million in just street profit,” Lander told The Epoch Times.

It’s a three-hour flight or a 23-hour drive from Toronto to the Panthers’ arena in Sunrise, Florida, just west of Fort Lauderdale and just north of Miami. Fearing an influx of Leafs fans and the loss of home ice advantage, the team barred Canadians from buying playoff tickets for the first 24 hours they were on sale.

The Leafs themselves are getting to Florida with plenty of firepower. The team had two 40-goal scorers in William Nylander and 2022 MVP Auston Matthews, with John Tavares scoring 36, and Mitch Marner 30.

The Oilers also had four 30-plus goal scorers and are the first team since 1996 to have three players in a season with 100 points (goals plus assists). Captain Connor McDavid scored 64 goals and 89 assists, his 153 points unmatched since Mario Lemieux got 161 in 1995–96. The team also scored goals 32.4 percent of the times they had a power play, the best in NHL history.

Although the Golden Knights’ 51 wins is one better than the Oilers’ season total, the Oilers had the best record since the March 3 trade deadline at 17 wins, 2 regulation time losses, and one overtime loss.

‘Canadian Sense of Entitlement’

Toronto teams have won the Stanley Cup 13 times. The Arenas took the title in 1918 and the St. Patricks in 1922 before the Maple Leafs took 11 wins between 1932 and 1967. The Edmonton Oilers won five Stanley Cups between 1984 and 1990.

No Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup since the Montreal Canadiens in 1993, which many Canadians feel just isn’t right, Lander says.

“There’s still that Canadian sense of entitlement that hockey belongs to them, and I don’t think that’s been true for a long time. But there is that belief. So winning it, whether it’s the Oilers or the Leafs, would for sure restore some of that pride,” Lander said.

“There’s more at stake for the Leafs than for the Oilers. At some point you risk losing a young fan base that says I’m not all that interested in hockey anyway, and this team has done nothing for half a century, thanks. I'll throw in my lot with the Raptors [basketball club] or Toronto MLS soccer.”

Lander said that better weather, lower taxes, and an easier travel schedule draw some elite players to prefer one of the 25 U.S. NHL teams instead of the seven Canadian ones. He acknowledges that many Canadians blame Gary Bettman, who took over as league commissioner in 1992.

“That’s again, one of those ways that we justify going so long without a Stanley Cup,” Lander said. “But he’s never been against Canada. He was speaking very vocally about making sure that Edmonton, and recently Calgary, got new arenas.”

Pedersen agrees.

“Why hasn’t there been a Canadian Stanley Cup champion since 1993? It very devilishly coincides with Gary Bettman’s term as commissioner, but I don’t think he’s behind it, I really don’t,” Pedersen said.

Whatever the cause, the veteran commentator says Canadian fans need a cup “really badly” from one of the two “iconic” teams.

“If it was Toronto, Edmonton to the Stanley Cup, we'd be assured a Canadian cup victor, and I think that would be the best thing for the NHL.”