Canada’s Stanley Cup drought reaches 25 years after Jets defeated

Hockey fans will have to wait another year to see if one of the seven Canadian hockey teams can win the Stanley Cup.

The Winnipeg Jets were the final team in the running for the silver trophy, but they were eliminated on Sunday in game five of the Western Conference finals against the Vegas Golden Knights.

The last time a Canadian hockey team won a Stanley Cup was in 1993 when the Montreal Canadiens won against the Los Angeles Kings.

READ MORE: Winnipeg Jets’ playoff run ends with 4th straight loss to Vegas Golden Knights

“I think in Canada, we cheer for our particular NHL team. But we also cheer for the other Canadian based teams because this has been a drought that’s been a little too long,” said Gord Stellick, sports commentator and former Toronto Maple Leafs general manager.

“If you spun the roulette wheel over 25 years, with one in 5 odds, you should have got a Stanley Cup.”

Stellick said even though Canadian teams have been deprived of winning the silver trophy, Canadian players are often the ones carrying the Cup at the end of the season.

“Guys who have hoisted the cup have generally been Canadians. It just hasn’t been on a Canadian team,” he said.

“It’s going to happen soon. The big thing is to get to the dance – which is the playoffs – and who knows what happens… it can be a magical ride.”

Eleven-year-old hockey fan Benjamin Gigolyk said he was hoping to see the Jets move on to the final round.

“It’s not the best thing to hear,” he said.

“I wanted them to win because they are a Canadian team.”

READ MORE: P.E.I.-born Gerard Gallant coaches Golden Knights to unlikely Stanley Cup final

Gigolyk said he hopes next season will be different and can watch a Canadian team win the Stanley Cup for the first time in his life.

“It would be good because [a Canadian team] hasn’t won it in a long time,” he said.

“It would just be good for Canada to bring that feeling back to Canada.”