CanCon Rules: NHL champion Vegas Golden Knights roster loaded with Canadians

The Stanley Cup will criss-cross the Great White North this off-season as the many Canadians on the Vegas Golden Knights roster spend their day with the trophy.

As for when the Cup is actually awarded to a Canadian team — it's been 30 long years and counting — that remains anyone's guess. 

The Golden Knights won their first NHL championship on Tuesday by closing out a five-game series win over the Florida Panthers. Canadian contributors — including Winnipeg's Mark Stone, playoff MVP Jonathan Marchessault of Cap-Rouge, Que., and Saskatoon's Chandler Stephenson — were front and centre on the Vegas roster. 

Of the 24 Vegas players who made at least one post-season game appearance, 18 were Canadian, per a league breakdown from NHL Stats. At 75 per cent, the Golden Knights easily had more Canadians than any other playoff team. 

However, hockey historian and author Eric Zweig said he doesn't read too much into the national numbers, noting that the days of certain countries having a definitive style of player are essentially over.

"I don't think suddenly at the draft in two weeks we're going to see people bailing on Europeans and American juniors to draft like crazy from the Canadian juniors," he said Wednesday. "There's still more Canadians than anything else."

For the league as a whole, 150 of the 362 playoff performers (41.4) this year were Canadian-born, well ahead of the No. 2 United States with 100 players (27.6).

Three Canadian clubs made the 16-team post-season cut this spring.

The Edmonton Oilers were second on the CanCon list behind Vegas at 57.1 per cent. The Toronto Maple Leafs were tied for seventh (43.5) and the Winnipeg Jets were tied for 12th (33.3).

The Seattle Kraken, meanwhile, were third (54.5) among all NHL playoff teams while Florida (54.2 per cent) was fourth. 

"More Canadians care who wins the Stanley Cup than anybody else in any other country," Zweig said from Owen Sound, Ont. "But I don't think Canadian players want it more than any other hockey players."

In the regular season, the Montreal Canadiens led all 32 teams with 27 Canadian-born players among their 39 skaters and goalies (69.2 per cent) who played at least one game.

The Oilers were second (65.6) and Vegas was third (62.9).

Montreal was the last Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup back in 1993 when the NHL had 24 teams.

There are now seven Canadian-based clubs — Montreal, Edmonton, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Ottawa and Vancouver — in a league that has grown to 32 teams. 

Canada did enjoy a strong run of championship form in the 1980s. A Canadian team won the Cup every year from 1984-90. 

But there has been nothing since the Habs' five-game victory over the Los Angeles Kings three decades ago.

"There's no mathematical reason why this (drought) should happen except that historically it's starting to fall more in the patterns all-time of what makes sense for the number of teams," Zweig said. 

"But it's still weird. I don't really understand it and I don't think anybody does."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 14, 2023. 

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Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press