Edmonton Oilers Lose the Stanley Cup

It's been a tough year for Canada in hockey. We failed to even get a medal at the Winter Olympics -- that is a national disgrace. And tonight, the Edmonton Oilers lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The fact that Edmonton should never have even gotten this far in the playoffs doesn't really make up for the disappointment of the game tonight. I lived in Edmonton and watched the Oilers play when Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Mark Messier, Grant Fuhr, etc. won the Cup 4 times. It would have been wonderful if Edmonton could have won tonight -- but it was not to be.

I don't think Americans understand what the Stanley Cup means to Canadians. If there is anything sacred in Canadian society -- it is the Stanley Cup. To win it, is the dream of thousands of boys and young men across the country. When you grow up playing street hockey or in the community rinks, in the towns and cities across the country, every young boy dreams of scoring the winning goal in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

For me as a Canadian living in the USA it is hard for me to believe that the fans in Carolina really understand the significance of the Cup. Somehow it just seems wrong that a team from there (or from Florida in 2004) has the cup. Yes, I know that most of the players are Canadian or European, but somehow that doesn't make a difference. It just seems wrong.

But, there are much more important things in life and in the world than hockey games. I'll feel better tomorrow morning.

Congratulations to the Carolina Hurricanes. They really did play well. And congratulations to the Edmonton Oilers -- at the beginning of the season nobody believed you would go this far.