The 1993 Montreal Canadiens were the last Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup.
The 2026 Canadiens weren’t able to repeat that, falling 6-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals, and so Canada’s championship drought lives on.
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Canada’s run ended one round earlier this year as Montreal bowed out in the conference finals following back-to-back losses in the Stanley Cup Final by the Edmonton Oilers.
Montreal pulled off Game 7 wins against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres and routed a rusty Hurricanes team 6-2 in Game 1.
But Carolina restored its aggressive forechecking in Game 2 and beyond, reeling off four consecutive wins and limiting the Canadiens to 43 shots over the first three wins.
Canadian teams already had a bad start to the postseason with the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ and Winnipeg Jets‘ playoff streaks ending. The Ottawa Senators and Edmonton Oilers made it, but they were knocked out in the first round.
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The Canadiens are out now after a promising start.
The Canada drought happened after teams north of the border won from 1984-90, including two all-Canada finals. After Montreal won in 1993, the Vancouver Canucks lost in Game 7 of the 1994 final.
Here’s a look at Canada’s drought:
What led to Canada’s Stanley Cup drought?
The poor value of the Canadian dollar, compared with the U.S. dollar, hurt teams north of the border because their revenue was in Canadian dollars but they paid players in U.S. dollars. It made it harder for Canadian teams to hang on to their stars until a salary cap (instituted in 2005) and revenue sharing helped the smaller markets.
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At the same time, there was a migration south of the border. Arena issues led the Quebec Nordiques to move to Denver in 1995. The Colorado Avalanche won in their first season there after trading for Patrick Roy. The Winnipeg Jets moved to Arizona in 1996 and became the Coyotes (now Utah Mammoth). Canada got a team back in 2011 when the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg and became the current Jets.
Only one team can win the Stanley Cup and the United States has 25 teams to Canada’s seven.
Which team could end the drought?
The Canadiens seems like a good candidate, even with their fade in the conference finals.
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They’re young, but they’ll grow together, and Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky and Lane Hutson are already playing great. Ivan Demidov shows promise and goalie Jakub Dobes showed he carry the team.
The Edmonton Oilers always have a chance with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the team. They took a step back this year, leading to the firing of coach Kris Knoblauch. They’ll have to find another solution to their goaltender and get a bump from the new coach. McDavid has two years left on his deal.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Canadiens fall to Hurricanes, extending Canada’s Stanley Cup drought
