ANALYSIS: Its been 32 long years since a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup – Winnipeg [Video]

You’ve heard it time and time again. It’s been 32 years since a Canadian-based team was able to skate around the ice carrying the Stanley Cup. And here we are, with one game done and another one to be played Friday night in Edmonton, with Canada’s last hope now just three games away from the ultimate goal.

Thirty-two long, frustrating years.

As a country of 40 million, we can proudly say it’s our passion for hockey and for our local teams that makes the NHL tick. We have kept the NHL relevant.

And even more emphatically, Wednesday’s first game of the Stanley Cup final between the Oilers and Florida Panthers was viewed by 4.5 million Canadians. That’s two million more viewers than watched south of the border, in a country with a population eight times larger.

And did you know that the TV ratings for each of the seven Canadian teams are better than any …