Stanley Cup: Why Canada Just Can’t Win
Jun 11, 2015 21:06:01 GMT -5
Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Jun 11, 2015 21:06:01 GMT -5
Ken Dryden weighs in ...
Stanley Cup: Why Canada Just Can’t Win
For the 21st straight season, an American team will rule the NHL. Hall of Fame Canadiens goaltender Ken Dryden explains why
By KEN DRYDEN
Updated June 11, 2015 3:13 p.m. ET
In 1892, the Stanley Cup was donated by an Englishman to the dominion of Canada. In recent decades, though, it has become the property of Uncle Sam.
The Cup will soon be awarded to either the Tampa Bay Lightning or Chicago Blackhawks, the 21st straight time it will have been won by one of the NHL’s American teams. The longest previous spell with no Canadian champion was six years, and it ended in 1941. No Canadian team has reached the Stanley Cup Final the past five years. This year, none even made it to the semifinals.
Why can’t Canada win?
Decades ago, it was Canada that had the competitive advantage. Canadian teams won all but five of the championships between 1944 and 1969, this despite never having more than one-third of the league’s teams. Hockey was born in Canada and nurtured in cold winters when indoor ice was rare in both countries. During the NHL’s formative years, nearly every player, and all of its stars, were Canadian.
They also wanted to play for Canadian teams. Before the NHL draft was implemented in 1967, they signed up with development teams of the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs often before they were teenagers. They didn’t make much money when they reached the NHL; in the off-season they had to work other jobs, as players in all sports did. But even U.S.-based players, better known in Canada than in America, could get better summer and post-career jobs back home in Canada. So they came home. They married young, as most did at the time, many of them to their Canadian high-school sweethearts, often with their first pro-hockey paychecks.
... the rest of the story ...
Stanley Cup: Why Canada Just Can’t Win
For the 21st straight season, an American team will rule the NHL. Hall of Fame Canadiens goaltender Ken Dryden explains why
By KEN DRYDEN
Updated June 11, 2015 3:13 p.m. ET
In 1892, the Stanley Cup was donated by an Englishman to the dominion of Canada. In recent decades, though, it has become the property of Uncle Sam.
The Cup will soon be awarded to either the Tampa Bay Lightning or Chicago Blackhawks, the 21st straight time it will have been won by one of the NHL’s American teams. The longest previous spell with no Canadian champion was six years, and it ended in 1941. No Canadian team has reached the Stanley Cup Final the past five years. This year, none even made it to the semifinals.
Why can’t Canada win?
Decades ago, it was Canada that had the competitive advantage. Canadian teams won all but five of the championships between 1944 and 1969, this despite never having more than one-third of the league’s teams. Hockey was born in Canada and nurtured in cold winters when indoor ice was rare in both countries. During the NHL’s formative years, nearly every player, and all of its stars, were Canadian.
They also wanted to play for Canadian teams. Before the NHL draft was implemented in 1967, they signed up with development teams of the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs often before they were teenagers. They didn’t make much money when they reached the NHL; in the off-season they had to work other jobs, as players in all sports did. But even U.S.-based players, better known in Canada than in America, could get better summer and post-career jobs back home in Canada. So they came home. They married young, as most did at the time, many of them to their Canadian high-school sweethearts, often with their first pro-hockey paychecks.
... the rest of the story ...
