The Winnipeg Jets Being The First Canadian Team To Win The Stanley Cup Since 1993 Would Be The Best Possible Outcome For America
Christopher Mast. Getty Images.The Jets have been ROARING out of the gates to start the 2024-25 NHL season. They're one of only 2 remaining undefeated teams and off to a 7-0 start. Things got a little dicey last night in Seattle when Matty Beniers tied the game up with under 4 minutes to go in regulation. But Nikolaj Ehlers is on the final year of his 7-year, $6M AAV contract. The man is looking to get paid this summer. The best way to get paid is to be a point-per-game guy, and deliver some OT daggers.
Sure, it may have just squeaked through there. But that's 3 goals and 6 assists through 7 games for Ehlers so far this year. Not bad at all. This could be a big ticket year for Ehlers, and it could be a big year for the Jets.
The fact that no Canadian team has won a Cup since the Habs in 1993 is one of the bigger anomalies in sports. In 1993, the league expanded to 26 teams with the Florida Panthers and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. The league jumped to 27 teams in '98 with the Predators, and 28 teams in '99 with the Thrashers. 2000 the league jumped up to 30 with the Wild and Blue Jackets. Finally you had the Golden Knights in 2017 to make it 31, and Seattle in 2021 to make it 32. At worst, Canadian teams have had a 21% chance of winning the Stanley Cup every year if we're going 7/32. Obviously American teams have a way higher probability of winning every year, but it's not like Canada hasn't had their chances since then.
1994, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2021, and 2024. They've been 4 wins away, but just can't seem to get it done. Maybe the 2024-25 Winnipeg Jets could be the ones who change that. And let me tell ya…that would be awesome.
Eventually the drought has to end at some point. It's not like no Canadian team is ever going to win the Cup ever again. And out of the 7 possible teams to win the first one in over 30 years, the Jets would be the easiest pill to swallow for American fans.
Toronto is Canada's team. We'd never hear the end of it if they won their first Cup since 1967 and were the first to bring it back home to Canada. The Oilers have the greatest player on the planet, and it would be a massive deal for Connor McDavid to restore glory to Canada. The Montreal Canadiens are the most historic franchise in the National Hockey League, and it would be a perfect story for them to bookend the last Cup in '93 with the most recent. The Ottawa Senators are in Canada's capitol, so I'm sure there would be a huge thing there. Vancouver has a rabid fanbase that would finally be able to riot for good reasons if they won the Cup. The Calgary Flames don't really bother anybody but they'd at least be able to make a huge deal out of winning it before Edmonton.
But for the most part, people forget the Winnipeg Jets even exist. I bet if you polled 100 people right now, maybe 6 of them could tell you that Winnipeg is in Manitoba, and maybe 3 of them could tell you where Manitoba is on a map. It would also be pretty poetic for the Jets to win the Cup the first year that the Coyotes franchise is finally dead. The city of Winnipeg originally lost their team to Phoenix, but now that the Yotes are no more and the team in Utah is technically a new franchise? It would be the perfect time for the Jets to win one.
Obviously it would be way more fun for no Canadian team to win the Cup. But if it has to be one of the 7, Winnipeg is easily the most palatable for American fans to handle.