Don't expect Canada's long Stanley Cup drought to end this year

Here are a couple of fun facts: As of this spring, it's been 33 years since a Canadian team last won the Stanley Cup.

The winning goaltender for that team was the Montreal Canadiens' Patrick Roy, who wore jersey number 33.

Is it a sign? An indication that the long curse is about to be lifted?

Well, no. Almost certainly not. The math is once again not in Canada's favor.

Following a 3-2 win against the New York Islanders on Thursday, the Ottawa Senators have 79 points on the season, leaving them five points out of a wild-card playoff spot. That's not a total disaster, but it's also not where they hoped to be a year after finally returning to the postseason.

The Canadiens, meanwhile, have a tiny bit of wiggle room. They hold the last playoff spot in the Atlantic Division but are tied on points with the Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings, who are seeking their own return to the second season.

Over in the Western Conference, the Edmonton Oilers should face little trouble securing a postseason berth, as they're six points ahead of the wild-card places. They almost certainly expected greater results this season, considering they've made two straight runs to the Stanley Cup Final, but the Oilers have caught fire in the playoffs before.

As for the rest of Canada's NHL franchises? Blech. Calgary and Vancouver have resided at the bottom of their conference for most of the season, while the Winnipeg Jets have to make up five points - and leapfrog four teams - just to grab the second wild-card spot in the West. The Toronto Maple Leafs, as you may have heard, are bad. And they recently lost Auston Matthews for the rest of the season - not that the NHL's player safety department seemed too fussed about it.

That means it will likely fall on the battle-hardened Oilers or upstart Canadiens to finally end the Cup drought north of the border. Or maybe the Sens or Jets go nuclear over the stretch run to give themselves a chance.

Impossible? No. Likely? Also no.

I once worked in a sports department where, during a season in which none of Canada's teams made the playoffs, we sought to produce a series of stories examining the factors that contributed to the poor form of the Canadian franchises. Was it the challenge of luring prized free agents to the frozen North? The weak dollar? The high cost of youth hockey? The pressure of playing in hockey-mad markets?

My contribution to the discussion was, basically: meh. Sure, the Canadian teams might have had a little influence, but the overwhelming reason why they weren't winning the Cup was that the country's franchises - this was a little more than a decade ago - were poorly run. The only way the streak will end is for one of them to conduct a sustained run of smart roster decisions and then survive the crucible of the playoffs with strong play and no small amount of good fortune.

Canadian hockey fans can try to console themselves by suggesting the odds are stacked against their teams, but then how do you explain St. Louis, Vegas, Carolina, and Anaheim winning Cups more recently? It's not like those groups had everything lined up nicely for them to win. They were good teams that maintained form through four rounds of the playoffs. It really is that simple.

Maybe that could yet happen for one of the Canadian NHL entries this season. Montreal seems too young and inexperienced to make a deep playoff run, but the Florida Panthers were just a 92-point eighth seed when they made the first of three consecutive trips to the Cup Final. Sometimes a goalie being on a heater is all it takes to stack upsets.

Edmonton, having lost in the last two finals, would seem the more obvious choice, especially due to the presence of Connor McDavid. However, multiple hurdles remain, such as Leon Draisaitl's injury and the fact that the team traded its starting goalie for Tristan Jarry, who's played himself into the role of opening the gate at the end of the bench.

I've never been one of those Canadians who feels some kind of duty to root for a Canadian team in the playoffs. It's OK to dislike your provincial rival. But as the Oilers got close last year, I found myself wishing very much that they would finish the job. Not because I had fallen in love with the team, mind you, just because the possibility of not having to mention Canada's Cup drought for the next several years sounded appealing.

Alas, here we are again, 33 years and counting. Perhaps this season, when all looks lost, is when the luck finally turns. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are always good for some big surprises, right?

Right?

Scott Stinson is a contributing writer for theScore.