I found an interesting website which listed some worldwide spring festivals and events which happen annually, usually without fail. As a Montreal Canadiens fan living in enemy territory his entire life I can’t help but think that the list is incomplete.
Yes Leaf fans, I am talking about the annual event where you all start with that sense of renewed hope only to have those hopes predictably dashed – the Stanley Cup playoffs.
I often wonder aloud sometimes why Leaf fans put themselves through such torture. They remind me of Bill Murray’s character in the movie Groundhog Day. They seem destined to relive the same sequence of events again… and again… and again.
At least in the movie Murray’s character finds a way to break the cycle of reliving the same day over and over. The Leafs and their fans have lived the same nightmare since… yes, 1967.
I am told this year will be different – “this is our year”. This is the year that the Leafs will slay the dragon – aka the Boston Bruins – and get over that proverbial hump. This is the year that the regular season offensive juggernaut known as Auston Matthews will finally show he is a primetime player. This is the year that the Leafs goalies will actually steal games rather than cough them up. This is the year… blah, blah, blah.
I hear from Leaf fans who tell me all the time that the Habs have suffered through 30 years of a drought without a Stanley Cup. To that I say, they are absolutely correct. I have become frustrated with my team’s playoff futility but then there are those 24 Cups – 10 in my lifetime – to hang my hat upon. Also, I am at least comfortable in the knowledge that the Canadiens have reached the Cup final as recently as 2021 and for what it is worth are the last Canadian team to hoist Lord Stanley’s mug.
The two guys in the photo above with me (my two older – but by their choice in favourite hockey teams apparently not wiser – brothers) were ages three and five when their beloved Buds last even made a Cup final (yes, I know they defeated the Canadiens to win the Cup that year but being only 18 months old at the time the pain was not even memorable and honestly any sorrow has been long erased by the ten Cups the Habs have won over my lifetime – but I digress).
Now, I may be fuzzy on the laws in Ontario over 50 years ago but I am sure neither of my two brothers could even legally enjoy a celebratory beer the last time their team was the toast of the NHL. No offence, but as a Habs fan just give me a paper bag to hide my face in public should it ever come to pass that my team is the laughingstock of the NHL as the Leafs have become.
Teams in other sports have shaken the label of loveable losers. The Red Sox, Cubs and White Sox in baseball. The Nuggets in the NBA. Even my Broncos (on back-to-back occasions I might add) passed on the NFL torch of perennial bridesmaids to the Buffalo Bills.
The Leafs stand alone as the NHL team with the longest record of championship futility. Every Canadian team, barring the Winnipeg Jets (to be fair to the Jets, they weren’t even eligible for a Cup until the WHA merged with the NHL in 1979. Also, the Jets left Winnipeg in 1999 and did return until 2011 – yet again, I digress) have at least been as far as a Cup final, if not won it all, since the Leafs last finals appearance in 1967.
Here are the cold, hard, heartbreaking numbers for the Leafs and their fans relative to their Canadian cousins regarding Cups and final appearances since 1967:
Montreal: 12 Final appearances; 10 Cups
Edmonton: 6 Final appearances; 5 Cups
Calgary: 3 Final appearances; 1 Cup
Vancouver: 3 Final appearances
Ottawa: 1 Final appearance
Winnipeg and Toronto: doughnuts
(note, the former Quebec Nordiques franchise has also won 3 Stanley Cups albeit as the Colorado Avalanche)
What would add real insult to injury for Leaf fans would be if the Winnipeg Jets reached a Cup final, or God forbid, actually won the Holy Grail.
By the way, who have I picked to be the team left standing at the end this year? The Winnipeg Jets.
Sorry Leaf fans, it’s Groundhog Day… again..
One Dad With a Blog
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