How Canada’s teams fare in Cup-less era
Canadiens own imagination, but Canucks most successful since 1993-94 NHL season
It has been 20 seasons since a Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup — the Montreal Canadiens in 1993.
Four Canadian teams have made it to the Cup final since then: Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa and Vancouver. Oddly, that Cup run has often marked a decline in fortunes for the team. Here’s a look at the regular seasons of the Canadian teams that have been around since the Canada’s Cup-less era began in 1993-94. CANUCKS Regular-season record since 199394: 761 wins, 1,739 points Playoff seasons since 1993-94: 13 Playoff wins: 66 The Canucks — the best Canadian team, both in the regular season and the playoffs of the past 20 years — are the team in decline now. They made the final in 2011, and were within a game of winning the Cup.
Today, they are a shadow of themselves, a team bogged down with an aging core and nearly immovable contracts. Trevor Linden is in as president of hockey, replacing GM Mike Gillis who traded two franchise goalies for very little in return.
The Canucks, who don’t have a strong drafting record under Gillis, look to be getting high draft picks for the next few years. CANADIENS Regular-season record since 199394: 730 wins, 1,683 points Playoff seasons since 1993-94: 13 Playoff wins: 40 For all its playoff appearances and mystique, the team hasn’t been very successful at all in the post-season. After its 1993 Cup win, the Habs missed the playoffs in four of the next eight years, the worst stretch to that point in its history. Sure, the team punches above its weight when it plays Boston, but the Canadiens have made one conference final in the past 20 years.
The team has a solid core now, and Carey Price could be a difference- maker. The Canadiens seem poised to be Canada’s best team for the next few years, especially if they can retain Thomas Vanek. MAPLE LEAFS Regular-season record since 199394: 734 wins, 1,678 points Playoff seasons since 1993-94: 10 Playoff wins: 58 The Leafs get slagged a lot, but their record over the past 20 years holds up against their main rivals, Montreal and Ottawa. While the Leafs have had fewer overall trips to the playoffs, their 58 playoff wins is indicative of long playoff runs. Three times they made it to the conference final in this particular time span. All the “1967” jokes surrounding the Maple Leafs, by the way, just aren’t as funny if they come from Canadian markets. With three seasons in a row of spectacular collapses — two late in the regular season and one in Game 7, in their only playoff appearance in nearly a decade — means change is in the offing. Brendan Shanahan was brought in as Dave Nonis’s boss with a mandate of changing the culture. Randy Carlyle’s future as coach is uncertain. What is certain is that MLSE president Tim Leiweke believes the team needs a “character” overhaul. SENATORS Regular-season record since 199394: 731wins, 1,676 points Playoff seasons since 1993-94: 14 Playoff wins: 59 The Senators made it to the Cup final in 2007, losing to Randy Carlyle’s Anaheim Ducks. They missed the playoffs in two of the next four seasons. They might have an even better playoff record if they didn’t have to keep playing the Leafs. Those were pretty good Senators teams who just couldn’t get past the Blue and White. The Senators look like they’ll always be a good-enough team. The loss of Tim Murray — now the GM in Buffalo — could take its toll. The Senators have a solid drafting record, rarely missing on a first-round pick and usually scoring with a laterounder. And GM Bryan Murray is a pretty good trader, unafraid to move star players. FLAMES Regular-season record since 199394: 698 wins, 1,625 points Playoff seasons since 1993-94: 8 Playoff wins: 31 The Flames made it to the Cup final 2004, losing to Tampa Bay. The next four years were spent getting older and making it only as far as the second round. The Flames are now five years in a row without making the playoffs. Leaf fans can see some similarities, especially if you see Jarome Iginla’s desire to stay with the Flames, despite the futility of the situation, as akin to Mats Sundin and the Muskoka Five. Now with Brian Burke in charge, a rebuild is on. OILERS Regular-season record since 199394: 641wins, 1,512 points Playoff seasons since 1993-94: 7 Playoff wins: 30 The Oilers made it to the final in 2006 and haven’t made the playoffs since. Their consecutive streak of missing the playoffs (eight years) is the longest in the league now. Their continually high draft picks haven’t been able to pull the team out of its doldrums. New coach Dallas Eakins’s reputation for getting the most of out young players is at risk. Their first-round picks have amounted to no-brainers. But they haven’t picked up much by way of late-round gems, a sign that maybe their scouting isn’t what it should be. WINNIPEG JETS The data is small on the Jets. There have been two versions. One now plays in the desert in Phoenix. The current version used to be the Atlanta Thrashers. They still kind of are. OVERALL SINCE1993 Whenever a team starts from scratch with a new GM or a new coach, they bring up the Detroit Red Wings as the franchise to model themselves after.
No surprise why. No team has won more Stanley Cup titles (four) or amassed more points (2,066) in the past 20 seasons than the Red Wings, based on data compiled by statistician Andrew Bailey. Plus, they’ve been in the playoffs each of those years. And the way they patiently develop young drafted talent — the evidence this year is Gustav Nyquist — is a skill few teams have.
The Devils are the other team that folks bring up, with three Cups and16 playoff appearances in the past 20 years. But how would you like to be a fan of the Philadelphia Flyers or San Jose Sharks? Each has 17 playoff appearances, but no Stanley Cup titles.
The Sharks are a patient team that has kept a core of players together under Doug Wilson (GM since 2003) with players like Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski; the Flyers have ridden a veritable merrygo-round coaches, goalies and high draft picks like James van Riemsdyk, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter.