CanadianHockey
Smith - Alfie
Nice anlysis, SiverSeven. Logic would dictate that skilled, puck-posession teams who control the puck 60-70% of the game like OTT, DET, PIT would benefit on calls.
But reality states that since 1993, Canadian teams ALWAYS get the short end of the stick.
Out of fear of reiterating the unstated obvious which few realize:
Since 1993, Canadian teams are 0 for 20 in Cup wins despite having 7 of 24 teams in the NHL to the current state of 7 of 30 teams. Chance alone would dictate 5-6 Cup wins over this period.
Reality states the NHL has long pegged Canada as a market that will accept defeat yet still gladly
sell out buildings (for an extreme example, see Toronto). Hence the 20-year losing streak with NO MEDIA COVERAGE OR ANALYSIS.
Look at game 7 records for Canadian teams outside of crap-chute round 1. In 20 years, you will find 2 Canadian wins, one being Montreal in a dead-end win vs. Washington in 2009 when the NHL knew a loss to home-ice Pittsburgh in their dream PIT-DET 2008 rematch was imminent.
Canadian teams are actually 0-128 in Cup attempts since 1993. Nobody in the media dare to state these facts, as it will KILL ratings.
I'm sure the know-it-all regulars on here (who bully the informed off) will be quick to argue, heh.
Let's recap Canadian teams from the Bettman era onward, in order of importance to CBC:
TORONTO 0-20
MONTREAL 0-20
VANCOUVER 0-20
CALGARY 0-20
EDMONTON 0-20
OTTAWA 0-20
WINNIPEG 0-5
QUEBEC CITY 0-3 (won the Cup the first season of relocation in Colorado, and gained several years of sell-outs as a direct benefit of prudent Quebec drafting only to regress to half-empty buildings since two inherited Cups from Quebec and HOFers Forsberg/Sakic retiring)
Lack of Cup wins by Canadian franchises is not indicative of systemic favouritism by the NHL toward American franchises.
Furthermore, Cup wins over a 20 year span is a horrible way of measuring referee bias against specific teams.
Tl;dr - These anti-Canadian accusations are not grounded in reality.
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