Canada's Team - the Canucks

I haven't blogged about hockey in a while, strange considering it is my favourite sport.

I've never really been into cheering for the last Canadian team left in the playoffs.  For one thing, the Islanders were always my team.  For another, practically every team in the NHL has a roster that is filled with Canadians.  In fact, it's probable that some American based teams have more Canadians on the roster than some Canadian based teams.

That being said, I am changing pace this year.  I will be cheering for the Vancouver Canucks as Canada's sole remaining entry in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

When one thinks of iconic Canadian teams, of course names like Les Canadiens and the Maple Leafs jump out. How can they not with names so, well so Canadian!!  The Canucks were the 3rd Canadian based NHL team (in the modern era) and they have not won a Cup in their 40 year existence.  (for the Leaf fans, that is 3 years less than Toronto's drought).  However they went to the finals twice losing to my Islanders in 82 and to the Rangers in 94.

When the Canucks entered the league in 1970, they did more than make another obviously Canadian name appear on the scene.  It was much more than that.  The Canucks hockey team arrived just before the daring "Crazy Canucks" downhill ski team arrived.   The Canucks were the first Canadian NHL team to exist west of Yonge Street, Toronto in the modern era.  The Leafs had always been the team of English Canada while the Habs were the team of French Canada.  Upper and Lower Canada now had to share the stage with a Western team.

Other teams have come and gone but none were so ostensibly Canadian as the Leafs, Canadiens and the Canucks.  Names matter:

Edmonton Oilers - so named cuz Alberta has a lot of oil.  A rather sad name.

Winnipeg Jets - the former WHA team actually became famous for the Europeans they had on the roster.

Quebec Nordiques - really?  Quebec City is populated by people of Nordic heritage?  Came as a surprise to me!

Ottawa Senators - the team named after our unelected Senators actually sport a picture of a Roman Centurion on their jerseys.  D'oh!!

Calgary Flames - this one annoys me the most.  The Atlanta Flames were so named because General Sherman burned down Atlanta at the end of the American Civil War.  So when the team moved to Calgary, they became the Calgary Flames???

The Canucks are led by the Sedin twins who are Swedish.  They were drafted by their then General Manager who was an American named Brian Burke.  Brian Burke now runs the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Still it has been 17 years since a Canadian team held a Stanley Cup victory parade.  That is too long.

Go Canucks!!!