Canada's Stanley Cup Drought Continues With Oilers' Loss

For the second straight year, the Edmonton Oilers came up short in the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers, losing Game 6 and the series at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday.

The result is extremely disappointing for not just Oilers fans, but anyone who wanted to see the Stanley Cup return to the Great White North.

With Edmonton's defeat, Canada's Stanley Cup drought now extends to 32 years and counting. The 1993 Montreal Canadiens are still the last Canadian team to hoist Lord Stanley's Cup.

Eight Canadian teams have made it to the Stanley Cup Final since then, but all have come up short. A full list of those results is below:

• 1994: New York Rangers defeat Vancouver Canucks 4-3
• 2004: Tampa Bay Lightning defeat Calgary Flames 4-3
• 2006: Carolina Hurricanes defeat Edmonton Oilers 4-3
• 2007: Anaheim Ducks defeat Ottawa Senators 4-1
• 2011: Boston Bruins defeat Vancouver Canucks 4-3
• 2021: Tampa Bay Lightning defeat Montreal Canadiens 4-1
• 2024: Florida Panthers defeat Edmonton OIlers 4-3
• 2025: Florida Panthers defeat Edmonton Oilers 4-2

Of the eight Canadian teams to make it to the final in this span, five of them have come just one win away from winning the Stanley Cup. Alas, it wasn't meant to be.

The reason(s) for the drought are up for debate. Some argue it's due to players not wanting to play in Canada due to increased media pressure and/or higher taxes, while others believe it's simply the Canadian teams being a step behind in terms of management and roster contstruction. Regardless of the reason, it's a statistical improbability that not one of the seven Canadian teams has won the Cup in the past 32 years.

As for the Oilers themselves, there's no sugarcoating the pain of losing for the second year in a row.

“There’s no silver lining to this. It’s still heart-wrenching, it’s very difficult to handle right now,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Just because we were maybe the underdogs going into the L.A. series, the underdogs going against Vegas and the Dallas series, it hurts right now and I don’t think it’s going to let up for a while.”