It’s quite clear that there has been a lot of political sniping between Canada and the United States over the past couple of years. The back and forth with tariffs and reneging on trade deals , all of this talk of a 51 st state, and other factors have all caused frictions not seen in a lifetime.
Of course, away from the murky depths of social media and the brinkmanship between Washington and Ottawa, things are less fractious, even in the arena of sports, where the sniping between Americans and Canadians has mostly been a friendly rivalry going back decades.
Still, in Canada’s favorite sport, ice hockey, the fans south of the border have a ready-made riposte every time the bickering gets too heated – No Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup since 1993 . It’s 33 years and counting, and it is now being viewed as something akin to a curse.
Canada’s NHL curse feels unique
“Curses” are part and parcel of sports, of course. The long-suffering Boston Red Sox fans had to deal with the Curse of the Bambino for over 80 years before breaking it in 2004. A similar drought happened in Chicago with the Cubs. And in Buffalo, well, the city is deemed one of the unluckiest in its attempt to bring home a major sports championship.
Yet, this is an entire nation in what is deemed its national sport. Technically, lacrosse is the official national sport of Canada since 1859, but it’s evident that ice hockey is more popular. Regardless, it has become a painfully long wait.
The NHL Playoffs are taking place right now, so there is a chance that we will see the curse broken in the coming two months. Yet, it is once again an American team, the Colorado Avalanche, that is cited as the favorite in the Stanley Cup odds with DraftKings sportsbook . The Carolina Hurricanes, Tampa Bay Lightning and Vegas Golden Knights round out the top four in the betting.
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The Oilers had chances in 2024 and 2025
The Edmonton Oilers – beaten finalists in 2025 and 2024 – will probably be viewed as the most likely to beat the curse this season. It’s evident that the team is not as cohesive as it has been in the past couple of seasons. The worry is that the team starts to decline, and the mid-2020s will be looked back upon as a golden opportunity – the Florida Panthers won both Stanley Cups – that was let slip.
The Montreal Canadiens – the most successful team in NHL history and the last Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup – also remain in the mix, though Montreal’s odds would suggest the team is a middle-ground outsider. The Ottawa Senators need a miracle to get back into contention , down 3-0 in the series with Carolina.
A word to finish, too, on the Buffalo Sabres. As mentioned earlier, Buffalo has its own sports curse, mostly centered on the Bills’ travails and ill luck in the NFL. But the Sabres are back in the NHL Playoffs, and going nicely. The Sabres have not been in a Stanley Cup Final since the 1980s – and have never won one – so it would be nice to see the team break the city’s long championship drought. It’s not certain it would be celebrated in Canada, though.
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