Latest news with #DominionHockeyChallengeCup
Hamilton Spectator
19-06-2025
- Sport
- Hamilton Spectator
How close are Canada's NHL teams to breaking our Stanley Cup drought?
The 'Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup' donated by Lord Stanley of Preston was supposed to be awarded to the best Canadian hockey team when it was commissioned in 1892. As the Stanley Cup moved from an amateur challenge Cup to a professional annual trophy, 40 of the first 41 champions were Canadian, interrupted only by those pesky Seattle Metropolitans in 1917. Needless to say, Canadian hockey teams haven't had a run like that in a good long while. As the Edmonton Oilers flamed out for the second year in a row, losing again to the Florida Panthers, we're reminded — because we can't help ourselves — that a Canadian team hasn't won the Stanley Cup in 32 years. You can blame the salary cap, or that Canadian taxes make it harder to attract talent. You can say the pressure too intense in Canadian markets. Blame the border if you want. Regardless, Canadian teams have come close since Montreal last won the Cup in 1993. Calgary in 2004, Edmonton again in 2006, Vancouver in 2011, and Montreal in 2021. Are Canadian teams in the NHL now just lovable losers, like Charlie Brown having the football pulled from him by Lucy every time? Or are Canadians eternal optimists when it comes to hockey? Here's a look at the seven Canadian teams, and their chances of bringing the Stanley Cup home anytime soon. They are presented in order from their last Stanley Cup. Stanley Cup titles: 24, last in 1993. A handful of players remain from their unexpected run to the Cup final in 2021 and a rebuilding process since then paid off with a surprising playoff appearance this season. GM Kent Hughes has so far had a patient approach the fan-base bought into, and has an array of young talent led by rookie of the year Lane Hutson. A return to their status of Les Glorieux seems only a season or two away. Stanley Cup prognosis: In the next five years. Stanley Cup titles: Five, last in 1991. When you have two of the best players on the planet, you always have a chance. Leon Draisaitl's league-leading $14 million (U.S.) a year deal kicks in July 1. But they only have Connor McDavid guaranteed for one more year. They've been to the final two years in a row. Having the second-best goaltender in a series is not a good idea. GM Stan Bowman has to be on the lookout for a goalie. He doesn't have a great deal of cap wiggle room, about $12 million, and his priority will have to be restricted free agent defenceman Evan Bouchard. Cup prognosis: 2026 or bust. Stanley Cup titles: One in 1989 The Flames seem caught in the murky middle. Good enough to almost make the playoffs, not bad enough to get franchise cornerstone draft picks. GM Craig Conroy has a building block in goalie Dustin Wolf. But there's not a lot of support for Nazem Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau. Conroy has more than $27 million in cap space this summer, but this team will be closer to a Stanley Cup contender by tanking the next couple of years. Cup prognosis: Get back to us in the 2030s. Stanley Cup titles: 13, last in 1967 With or without Mitch Marner, the Maple Leafs have an impressive array of talent, perhaps the highest level of talent in their post-Stanley Cup existence. That's a long time — 58 years, not that anybody's counting. Put them down for at least 100 points next season, maybe even the President's Trophy. The playoffs, though? That's quite another story. We've all seen it. Their lack of success is its own tragicomedy. This core group should have played for a Cup by now. What's the definition of insanity? Cup prognosis: There's always next year. Stanley Cup titles: Four, last in 1927 (a very different franchise with the same name) It took this core of young players longer than expected to make the playoffs. But the only thing more true than the Leafs bowing out early is the Leafs beating Ottawa in the post-season. The Brady Tkachuk-led team seems ready to make the leap. Jake Sanderson is the real deal on defence. Linus Ullmark is a quality goalie. Travis Green is a quality coach. And the ownership group led by Michael Andlauer seems ready to spend to contend. Cup prognosis: Coming soon to the nation's capital. Stanley Cup titles: 0, last appeared in final in 2011 They are a melodrama all unto themselves, and comic relief to the fan bases of the other Canadian teams. How they ruined what they had as recently as two years ago seems improbable. Once, the question was how far could elite defenceman Quinn Hughes and top forward Elias Pettersson take them? Now the questions are what happened to Pettersson, and will Hughes stay or try — as president Jim Rutherford mused publicly — to join his brothers Jack and Luke in New Jersey? Cup prognosis: Perhaps more cursed than the Maple Leafs. Stanley Cup titles: 0, never appeared in final. Can you imagine having a team this good and failing to make it to the Cup final? I guess you can if you follow the Leafs closely. That's life in Winnipeg, too. Great regular seasons. Early playoff exits. The thing that's hard to wrap your head around is Connor Hellebuyck. He won the Vezina this season as the league's top goalie. He always has good regular seasons, but he's a shadow of himself in the playoffs. A team that believes it has trouble attracting talent managed to get its top stars — Hellebuyck included — to commit. Now it's easy to wonder if the Jets committed to the wrong group. Cup prognosis: Perennial also-rans.
Toronto Star
18-06-2025
- Sport
- Toronto Star
How close are Canada's NHL teams to breaking our Stanley Cup drought?
The 'Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup' donated by Lord Stanley of Preston was supposed to be awarded to the best Canadian hockey team when it was commissioned in 1892. As the Stanley Cup moved from an amateur challenge Cup to a professional annual trophy, 40 of the first 41 champions were Canadian, interrupted only by those pesky Seattle Metropolitans in 1917. Needless to say, Canadian hockey teams haven't had a run like that in a good long while. As the Edmonton Oilers flamed out for the second year in a row, losing again to the Florida Panthers, we're reminded — because we can't help ourselves — that a Canadian team hasn't won the Stanley Cup in 32 years. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW You can blame the salary cap, or that Canadian taxes make it harder to attract talent. You can say the pressure too intense in Canadian markets. Blame the border if you want. Regardless, Canadian teams have come close since Montreal last won the Cup in 1993. Calgary in 2004, Edmonton again in 2006, Vancouver in 2011, and Montreal in 2021. Are Canadian teams in the NHL now just lovable losers, like Charlie Brown having the football pulled from him by Lucy every time? Or are Canadians eternal optimists when it comes to hockey? Here's a look at the seven Canadian teams, and their chances of bringing the Stanley Cup home anytime soon. They are presented in order from their last Stanley Cup. Montreal Canadiens Stanley Cup titles: 24, last in 1993. A handful of players remain from their unexpected run to the Cup final in 2021 and a rebuilding process since then paid off with a surprising playoff appearance this season. GM Kent Hughes has so far had a patient approach the fan-base bought into, and has an array of young talent led by rookie of the year Lane Hutson. A return to their status of Les Glorieux seems only a season or two away. Stanley Cup prognosis: In the next five years. Edmonton Oilers Stanley Cup titles: Five, last in 1991. When you have two of the best players on the planet, you always have a chance. Leon Draisaitl's league-leading $14 million (U.S.) a year deal kicks in July 1. But they only have Connor McDavid guaranteed for one more year. They've been to the final two years in a row. Having the second-best goaltender in a series is not a good idea. GM Stan Bowman has to be on the lookout for a goalie. He doesn't have a great deal of cap wiggle room, about $12 million, and his priority will have to be restricted free agent defenceman Evan Bouchard. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Cup prognosis: 2026 or bust. Calgary Flames: Stanley Cup titles: One in 1989 The Flames seem caught in the murky middle. Good enough to almost make the playoffs, not bad enough to get franchise cornerstone draft picks. GM Craig Conroy has a building block in goalie Dustin Wolf. But there's not a lot of support for Nazem Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau. Conroy has more than $27 million in cap space this summer, but this team will be closer to a Stanley Cup contender by tanking the next couple of years. Cup prognosis: Get back to us in the 2030s. Toronto Maple Leafs Stanley Cup titles: 13, last in 1967 With or without Mitch Marner, the Maple Leafs have an impressive array of talent, perhaps the highest level of talent in their post-Stanley Cup existence. That's a long time — 58 years, not that anybody's counting. Put them down for at least 100 points next season, maybe even the President's Trophy. The playoffs, though? That's quite another story. We've all seen it. Their lack of success is its own tragicomedy. This core group should have played for a Cup by now. What's the definition of insanity? Cup prognosis: There's always next year. Ottawa Senators Stanley Cup titles: Four, last in 1927 (a very different franchise with the same name) It took this core of young players longer than expected to make the playoffs. But the only thing more true than the Leafs bowing out early is the Leafs beating Ottawa in the post-season. The Brady Tkachuk-led team seems ready to make the leap. Jake Sanderson is the real deal on defence. Linus Ullmark is a quality goalie. Travis Green is a quality coach. And the ownership group led by Michael Andlauer seems ready to spend to contend. Cup prognosis: Coming soon to the nation's capital. Vancouver Canucks Stanley Cup titles: 0, last appeared in final in 2011 They are a melodrama all unto themselves, and comic relief to the fan bases of the other Canadian teams. How they ruined what they had as recently as two years ago seems improbable. Once, the question was how far could elite defenceman Quinn Hughes and top forward Elias Pettersson take them? Now the questions are what happened to Pettersson, and will Hughes stay or try — as president Jim Rutherford mused publicly — to join his brothers Jack and Luke in New Jersey? ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Cup prognosis: Perhaps more cursed than the Maple Leafs. Winnipeg Jets Stanley Cup titles: 0, never appeared in final. Can you imagine having a team this good and failing to make it to the Cup final? I guess you can if you follow the Leafs closely. That's life in Winnipeg, too. Great regular seasons. Early playoff exits. The thing that's hard to wrap your head around is Connor Hellebuyck. He won the Vezina this season as the league's top goalie. He always has good regular seasons, but he's a shadow of himself in the playoffs. A team that believes it has trouble attracting talent managed to get its top stars — Hellebuyck included — to commit. Now it's easy to wonder if the Jets committed to the wrong group. Cup prognosis: Perennial also-rans.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'Is a Canadian team even allowed to win me anymore?' The imagined thoughts of the Stanley Cup
This week saw the beginning of the Stanley Cup finals, which sees the Edmonton Oilers in contention to potentially become the first Canadian team since 1993 to win the NHL championship trophy. In Dear Diary, the National Post satirically re-imagines a week in the life of a newsmaker. This week, Tristin Hopper takes a journey inside the thoughts of the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup. Or, as its more commonly known, the Stanley Cup. Life comes at you fast. One minute you're a donated silver cup being fought over by toothless Canadian amateurs fresh from a shift at the dockyards. The next, you're a heavily trademarked corporate laurel that spends most of its time around American millionaires. I've been to the White House so often I've got my own Secret Service code name. I've been filled with hot wings and Kristall liqueur more times than I can count. There are times I catch myself spelling 'colour' without the 'u.' I stared in the mirror for several minutes at the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup inscription on my bowl. How often do I forget it's even there. I'll be frank; I didn't know Canadian teams were still technically able to win me. I figured Canada had lost a war or something, and as a condition of the surrender they had to forsake access to their most treasured cultural object. That's how these things usually go, right? That's why the Mona Lisa, an Italian cultural treasure, is in France. It's why Egypt's Rosetta Stone is in the U.K. So to learn that the Oilers merely have to win some hockey games to get me back is quite surprising. I thought my return to Canadian soil could come only at the conclusion of some devastating internecine conflagration. People ask me if I still keep in touch with the other Governor General sports trophies: the Grey Cup, the Minto Cup, the Jeanne Sauvé Ringette Cup. The answer is, no. The last I heard from any of them was when the Roland Michener Tuna Fishing Trophy tried to borrow money. Do I think I'm better than them? Yes. As much as I respect the emerging sport of Dragon Boat racing, I would controversially contend that the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Dragon Boating Cup doesn't inspire the heart of young athletes in quite the same way as I do. Nevertheless, there are still times I think wistfully of the simple yet satisfying life of the Grey Cup. Does Tom Cruise envy his humble siblings who never left upstate New York? I would remind people that I continue to spend a disproportionate amount of time with Canadians. It's just that these particular Canadians live in the United States, work for U.S. companies, are paid in U.S. dollars and have married Americans (blondes, mostly). Is it not fitting that these ambiguous Canadians should be rewarded with me, the very icon of shifting and ambiguous identity. How much of me is really the 'original' Stanley Cup. At what point, when so many of my parts have been stripped off and moved to a museum somewhere, do I cease being what I once was? Do I fear what would occur were I to once again be in the possession of a Canadian team? I have so often been in the hands of cities who were immune to my powers. Where the Stanley Cup parade has been little more than an ill-attended circling of the arena parking lot. What happens when this spell is broken? Like any major trophy, I know I hold immense power and influence. Cities have burned on my account. Fortunes have been lost. Tears have been shed. TVs punched. A people has been bound in the darkness for a generation. What happens when they see light for the first time? Dear Diary: Inside the thoughts of Canada Post workers considering a strike Dear Diary: The imagined thoughts of Justin Trudeau
National Post
07-06-2025
- Sport
- National Post
'Is a Canadian team even allowed to win me anymore?' The imagined thoughts of the Stanley Cup
This week saw the beginning of the Stanley Cup finals, which sees the Edmonton Oilers in contention to potentially become the first Canadian team since 1993 to win the NHL championship trophy. Article content In Dear Diary, the National Post satirically re-imagines a week in the life of a newsmaker. This week, Tristin Hopper takes a journey inside the thoughts of the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup. Or, as its more commonly known, the Stanley Cup. Article content Article content Article content Monday Article content Article content Life comes at you fast. One minute you're a donated silver cup being fought over by toothless Canadian amateurs fresh from a shift at the dockyards. The next, you're a heavily trademarked corporate laurel that spends most of its time around American millionaires. Article content I've been to the White House so often I've got my own Secret Service code name. I've been filled with hot wings and Kristall liqueur more times than I can count. There are times I catch myself spelling 'colour' without the 'u.' I stared in the mirror for several minutes at the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup inscription on my bowl. How often do I forget it's even there. Article content Tuesday Article content I'll be frank; I didn't know Canadian teams were still technically able to win me. I figured Canada had lost a war or something, and as a condition of the surrender they had to forsake access to their most treasured cultural object. Article content That's how these things usually go, right? That's why the Mona Lisa, an Italian cultural treasure, is in France. It's why Egypt's Rosetta Stone is in the U.K. Article content Article content So to learn that the Oilers merely have to win some hockey games to get me back is quite surprising. I thought my return to Canadian soil could come only at the conclusion of some devastating internecine conflagration. Article content Article content Wednesday Article content The answer is, no. The last I heard from any of them was when the Roland Michener Tuna Fishing Trophy tried to borrow money. Do I think I'm better than them? Yes. As much as I respect the emerging sport of Dragon Boat racing, I would controversially contend that the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Dragon Boating Cup doesn't inspire the heart of young athletes in quite the same way as I do. Article content Thursday Article content I would remind people that I continue to spend a disproportionate amount of time with Canadians. It's just that these particular Canadians live in the United States, work for U.S. companies, are paid in U.S. dollars and have married Americans (blondes, mostly).
CNN
04-06-2025
- Sport
- CNN
The Stanley Cup: The storied and quirky history of one of sports' greatest trophies
(CNN) — It's one of the most recognizable trophies in sports, with a history dating back to the 19th century, so it's no surprise that the Stanley Cup has a story or two to tell. Named after Lord Stanley of Preston, a Canadian governor general who donated the first Cup back in 1892, the trophy is awarded to the NHL champions every year. It is, and always has been, the pinnacle of the sport and something players dedicate their entire lives to winning. With that being the case, it's perhaps predictable that those who manage to get their hands on the trophy are keen to celebrate, especially since it is tradition that every player of the winning squad gets to spend an entire day with the prized silverware. Problem is, that's left the poor old Stanley Cup in some unusual situations. CNN Sports looks at some of the most bizarre predicaments it's ended up in. Prized possession The Stanley Cup is looked after by a team of people with the title of 'Keeper of the Cup.' These people travel with the trophy, keeping it clean and, more importantly, safe. At least one member of the team is always with the trophy when it's in public. 'We get called different things too. People have fun with it. They call us Cup keepers, Cup dudes, Cup guys. You know, handlers is all kinds of terms, but in essence, we're basically babysitting the Cup,' Howie Burrow, Keeper of the Cup, told CNN Sports. Global tour The Stanley Cup has traveled to dozens of countries around the world, including places such as Afghanistan, Japan, Scotland and the UAE. It doesn't get a first-class seat, though. Instead, it flies underneath the airplane in a very secure box. 'When I'm getting my boarding passes, I'll open it up to show whoever's checking me in, but soon as I do that, there's usually about a dozen people in the other lines going, 'Oh my God, that's a Stanley Cup. Can I get a photo? Can I touch it?'' Burrow told CNN. All shapes and sizes The Stanley Cup we see today has been the same shape since 1948, but it hasn't always looked the same. The first ever iteration of the trophy, back in 1892, was just a bowl and was called the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup. Over the years, more tiers have been added to it and now the Cup stands at 35.25 inches and weighs 34.5 pounds. 'If you have to hang on to it for a long time and say, you have to walk a block or two because you're following somebody, it does get heavy. You're switching arms, or you got to put it down. You can work up a good sweat. But when the players first win it, right after on the ice, I mean, I'm sure it weighs hardly anything to them,' Burrow said to CNN. Etched into history Each player of the winning team has their name etched into a band which is then placed onto the trophy – with older bands being retired through the years. Given the number of winners, it's not surprising that a few spelling mistakes have creeped onto the prestigious Cup. Summer tour Since 1995, every player who wins the Stanley Cup is allowed a day to celebrate with it – sometimes two – in any way they deem fit. The trophy is then returned to NHL trustees before the new season, meaning every team bids to win the prestigious trophy again. Record winners No team in history has gotten its hands on the Stanley Cup more than the Montreal Canadiens. The Habs have won it 24 times, including a record five-in-a-row from 1956 to 1960. The franchise's first win came in 1916 – before the NHL even ran the tournament. The Canadiens haven't won it since 1993, though, and last reached the final in 2021.
