Canucks, Oilers face off in 2nd round of NHL playoffs
And then there were two. The Toronto Maple Leafs lost a nail biter Saturday night to their longtime rivals, the Boston Bruins, a crushing defeat in overtime, leaving the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers in the hunt for the Stanley Cup. Toronto’s drought now extended to 57 years by now. Fans are stunned. Sad, but not surprised. I’m still having, like, a hard time processing it. I think we cursed. We’re just cursed in general. A Canadian team hasn’t won a Stanley Cup in 31 years. Of the four Canadian teams that made it to the playoffs, Toronto and Winnipeg both made first round exits, leaving Vancouver and Edmonton. They’re playing each other and the bad news is one of them is going to be gone. The good news is one of them is going to be moving on to the conference final and theoretically have a one in four shot at ending this decades long drought. It’s the third time the Oilers and Canucks have met in the playoffs. They first met in 1986. The last time in 1992, Edmonton came out on top. Fans of both teams are already gearing up for a fight. The premiers of Alberta and BC are on the bandwagon. They’ve got a bet that involves the loser wearing the other team’s jersey. There’s going to be a lot of back and forth between these two fan bases. It’s not often we get 2 Canadian teams going up against each other in the postseason, especially in the later rounds. The puck drops in Vancouver this week. Filthy Shannok. CBC News. Toronto.