Time to See Lord Stanley’s Cup

North vs. South Collide

Meanwhile, there’s an interesting juxtaposition with the matchup in the Stanley Cup Finals. 

A Florida team is squaring off against a Canadian team. To the average sports fan, you’d imagine it’d be the Canadian part of that matchup that has been dominating the sport. However, you’d be wrong.

While Florida might not be the first state that comes to mind when you think of hockey (you know, because the state rarely reaches freezing temperatures…), it has been represented in five straight Stanley Cup Finals. This is the second straight appearance for the Florida Panthers, after the Tampa Bay Lightning made it in the three seasons prior.

On the flip side, Canada, despite having seven NHL teams, is hoping the Edmonton Oilers can bring home its first Cup since 1993! Canadian teams have gone 0-6 in the Stanley Cup Finals since. 

Seems inverted, right? You would imagine that Canada would be dominating the sport, and the Florida hockey teams would be dealing with the title drought. 

Not only is the pressure (of an entire nation) on Edmonton, but also their star Connor McDavid.

McDavid was the No. 1 draft pick in 2015 and has since been compared to Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby. He’s won all sorts of awards, including the NHL’s MVP award (The Hart Memorial Trophy) unanimously - joining Gretzky as the only players to ever do that. 

Yet, this will be McDavid’s first Stanley Cup Final appearance.

McDavid had a really impressive postseason run last year, but all anyone will focus on is the lack of a Cup. He managed just one playoff series victory over the course of his first four years in the league.

It should be an interesting Stanley Cup Finals matchup, but one that almost seems backwards in the recent success (or lack thereof) from the franchises. 

Game 1 is Saturday night.