Stanley Cup back in Canada? Their governor general finds that funny

There's nothing more entertaining for an American hockey fan than getting into a "will the Stanley Cup return to Canada?" fight with a Canadian. Personally, I really don't care where it winds up if it doesn't end in St. Louis (which it hasn't, and probably won't this year either), but I do understand why the Cup is such a part of Canadian identity and national pride, and I fully get why Canadians are upset that no team north of the border has won it since 1993. Heck, the last Canadian team to win it, the Canadiens, are a Francophone team that the rest of the provinces aren't necessarily huge fans of.

 

It's been almost 20 years since St. Patrick Roy hoisted the cup over his head, and it's hurtful for a lot of Canadians to think that the country that birthed the sport can't even get a hold of that sport's main trophy — a trophy gifted to the nation by proxy of Lord Stanley from Queen Victoria. The Cup is the greatest trophy in sports history; it has the most history, and by God, it's the only one that doesn't look like a paperweight. I totally grasp why fans of the seven teams in Canada want it back. It doesn't matter that Canadians win it every year; they're doing it on American teams. 

Well, the governor general of Canada, David Johnston, finds the whole situation comical. He recently laughed when asked if the Cup could be rewarded to a Canadian team while the league's locked out. The phrasing was "take the Cup back," though, so maybe he was just laughing at the thought of a top secret Canadian intelligence mission to break into the Hockey Hall of Fame (in Toronto, of course) and commandeer the Cup in the name of Canada and I guess the Queen.

The thought of the Stanley Cup being awarded to a non-professional team makes most hockey fans cringe. Maybe the best way for Canada to get a Stanley Cup is to just ice a competitive hockey team somewhere. They've made it to the finals with Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, and Vancouver in the last decade. Have some patience, and just let a Canadian pro team win it. I get the fixation with bringing it home, but wouldn't it be better if it was brought home the right way?

About Laura Astorian

Laura Astorian is the head editor for the SB Nation blog St. Louis Game Time and has been a Blues fan from childhood. She promises that any anti-Blackhawks bias will be left at the door. Maybe.

Quantcast