The NHL playoffs are about to start and for the first time in decades, a Canadian team won’t be in the postseason. This means that anyone who placed an online sportsbook bet that no Canadian team would make the playoffs this season, is going to win a substantial amount of cash.
To put this whole thing in perspective, the last time Canadian teams were shutout of the playoffs was 1970. Back then, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens were the only two Canadian teams in a 12 team league. Now, there are seven Canadian teams in the NHL and 16 of the league’s 30 teams will advance to the playoffs, which makes this even more disappointing than 1970.
Oilers Braden Christoffer (61) tries a tip a shot past Flames goalie Mason McDonald – Photo by Jack Lima
Because hockey is Canada’s national past time, a lot of fans and insiders will try to make it an even bigger deal than it is. The fact that no Canadian team advanced to the playoffs is obviously disappointing to Canadians. But because the league has a lot of Canadian players, Canadian fans can always watch their countrymen participating in the playoffs.
Not having a Canadian team in the playoffs will slightly affect the economy of the towns that the teams are based in because they won’t be able to make money from the games since none will be played in Canada. Local businesses will also be affected by this, but then again, it is the first time it has happened in a very long time, so odds are the teams and their fans will survive.
Surprisingly, the Canadian media have focused on the fact that there are Canadians on American teams, and are encouraging fans to root for the teams those players play for since none of their favorite teams will be participating.
Some Canadians are worried that having no teams in the playoffs this year could be the beginning of a trend where Canadian teams fail to qualify for the playoffs. The reason they are worried about it becoming the norm is the fact that no Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup since 1993.
Despite the Stanley Cup drought, Canadians don’t have to worry about their teams not qualifying for the playoffs because there are too many talented Canadian players playing for their local teams, and most of the teams that failed to make the playoffs this season will be back in the playoffs sooner rather than later.
Hockey fans in the United States seem to be enjoying the fact that there won’t be a Canadian team in the Stanley Cup playoffs this season. One of the reasons they are happy about Canadian teams being left out of the playoffs is the fact that Canada has owned the United States when it comes to international hockey competitions.
Flames goalie Mason McDonald gets a snow shower – Photo by Jack Lima
In the Olympics and Hockey World Cup, the Canadian teams have been more successful than the American teams, and they also won some of their gold medals at the expense of the Americans who finished second. Because the American teams have shown that they can’t defeat the Canadians, no Canadian teams in the playoffs is a small consolation price.
The bottom line here is that despite not having a team in the playoffs, a Canadian player will still hoist the Stanley Cup at the end of the season.
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