Oilers vs. Panthers Game 7 score and live updates: Stanley Cup Final predictions, channel and news stream

SUNRISE, Fla. — June 9, 1993. As the final seconds ticked away, Bob Cole delivered the spine-tingling call on Hockey Night in Canada.

“And now, a 24th Stanley Cup banner will hang from the rafters of the famous Forum in Montreal. The Canadiens win the Stanley Cup!”

Imagine for a moment sharing this thought with the celebrating players on the ice that night at the old Forum: A Canadian-based NHL club wouldn’t win a Cup again for at least 31 years (and perhaps longer depending on Monday night).

“No way, no way!” exclaimed ’93 Cup champ Vincent Damphousse in a conversation with The Athletic this weekend. “I thought I would win again with that team, never mind … It’s amazing that it’s been this long.”

Said fellow ’93 Cup champ Kirk Muller on Sunday when asked the same question: “Oh boy, there’s nobody that would have thought that it would have gone that long. … This drought just seems to have gone on and on.”

The captain of that ’93 Cup champion team, Guy Carbonneau, also wouldn’t have believed anyone telling him that in the moment.

“Well, if you would have asked me that then that I wouldn’t have had a chance to win it again with that team, I would have said, ‘No, you’re crazy,’” the Hockey Hall of Famer told The Athletic. “We had Patrick (Roy). You expect to go back and win it again.

“It’s incredible it’s been so long for a Canadian team.”

It sure is, eh?

Monday night here in Sunrise, the Edmonton Oilers have the chance to bring Lord Stanley’s famous mug back to the country that still eats, sleeps and breathes hockey.

“There have been Canadian teams that have reached the Final,” Muller said. “The opportunities were there. Like Calgary went to the Final, Vancouver went to the Final, Edmonton was there, so the opportunities have been there for Canadian teams, it’s just been a matter of winning that last round.”

Continue reading.