Vancouver Canucks: Who to cheer for in Stanley Cup Final
By Alex Hoegler
The Stanley Cup Finals begins Monday as the Washington Capitals visit the Vegas Golden Knights. Here’s a breakdown of which team Vancouver Canucks fans should cheer for to win it all.
The Vancouver Canucks have been around for nearly half a century, and there is no Stanley Cup championship to come out of it. Meanwhile, the expansion Vegas Golden Knights are playing for Lord Stanley’s mug in their very first year of existence. Go figure.
Vegas will be challenged by Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, who are in their first Stanley Cup Final since 1998. For ‘Ovie’ and co., they finally advanced past the second round. They conquered the Pittsburgh Penguins — their long-time Kryptonite — in the conference semis. Now, they’re off to the Final.
Sounds a lot like the 2010-11 Canucks, who finally got past round two and avoided a long-term rival in the Chicago Blackhawks along the way.
Of course, the Canucks failed to capture the Stanley Cup that year. Ovechkin is looking to finally erase his status as the best NHL player without a championship.
Okay, now let’s get to the how-this-relates-to-the-Canucks part. Just whom shall the good folks of Vancouver root for to win it all? None of these teams are an arch-rival, and there isn’t much of a connection between either team with the Canucks.
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Luca Sbisa is part of the team, sure. But he wasn’t exactly one of the bigger impact players during his brief time in Vancouver. Jason Garrison only played in eight games for Vegas before being sent to the minors.
So does that mean the Canucks should cheer for the Golden Knights over the Capitals? Unless you owned a Sbisa or Garrison jersey (seriously, how many of you actually bought one?), then no. Though the Golden Knights are a nice underdog story, I believe Canuck fans should be cheering most for Washington to win the Stanley Cup. It may sound crazy to many of you, but hear me out.
Just think about the Canucks and their heartbreak of 48 years. This team has never won a Stanley Cup, and they’ve only appeared in the Final three times. You think it’s fair that a Pacific Division rival gets to win a championship in their first season?
And think about Ovechkin and the Caps. This is very likely their one chance to win the Cup, given the ages of core players, and the fact stud defenceman John Carlson could leave in free agency this offseason.
Washington has been too good for too long. They don’t deserve to join the 2010-11 Canucks and 2015-16 Sharks as a team that went from “can’t win the big one,” to “we’re in the Finals,” to “we fell short of our championship goal once again.”
Canucks fans know it’s not a fun club to be part of. You waited so long for your team to reach the Finals, only for it to end in despair. Real Canucks fans know that pain, which is why you should cheer for Washington.
Then there’s that whole thing about the Golden Knights being a division rival. It’s very rare for teams to cheer for a team in their own division to win the championship, and this should be no exception.
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So Canucks fans, I encourage you to cheer for the Capitals. Vegas is a great story, but you can’t tell me you wouldn’t shed a smile or tear if Ovechkin and company finally won their first Stanley Cup.