Here we are, approaching the Thanksgiving weekend, and another NHL season is underway.
Between now and April 16, more than 1,300 games will fill the schedule for the 32 teams, and the Stanley Cup will be given out on or before June 21 of next year.
There will be just a handful of days that don’t have at least one NHL game, and that doesn’t include those games that we will watch from Italy at the Olympic Winter Games. Fresh from the 4 Nations Face-Off, Canada should be considered the favourite in that tournament.
In fact, if you include the Olympics, what we are witnessing right now just might be the golden era for hockey and for the National Hockey League in Canada.
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Think about it. There is a real possibility that all seven Canadian-based teams will make the playoffs. And before you scoff at me, last season, five teams from Canada played in the post-season.
Only Vancouver and Calgary did not. And the Flames, in fact, had the same number of points as St. Louis but lost on the tiebreaker. Both the Flames and the Canucks are improved, and can challenge for the post-season in the West, no doubt about it.
Of the remaining five teams, the Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers are consensus playoff teams — and that leaves the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens, who both qualified last season and are better this year and prepared for the post-season.
So, there you have it: all seven Canadian teams in the Stanley Cup playoffs. It sounds so realistic — at least in October.
Seven chances to finally return the Stanley Cup to Canada. It’s been 33 long years, and with the challenges the game of hockey has faced, both on and off the ice, winning hockey would be a great relief for many.
Add a chance to be Olympic champion, along with the Stanley Cup champion, and it’s a real chance to stand taller and wave the Maple Leaf.
Because we always need a reason to wave the flag.
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