Heading into the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals, we know one thing. That is the Stanley Cup champion will come from an American-based team for a staggering for a 25th consecutive year. The Boston Bruins will be facing the St. Louis Blues in a rematch of the classic 1970 Stanley Cup Finals.
However even though the teams are both American-based, the St. Louis Blues are significantly more “Canadian” than the Bruins. Of the 20 players that were dressed for the Blues in game six on Tuesday, 15 were Canadian. That is compared to only the four Canadians on the Bruins roster that swept the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final.
The 15 Canadians are centers Tyler Bozak, Ryan O’Reilly, Brayden Schenn and Robert Thomas; left wingers Sammy Blais, David Perron, Jaden Schwartz and Alex Steen; defensemen Robert Bortuzzo, Jay Bouwmeester, Joel Edmundson, Colton Parayko and Alex Pietrangelo, and goaltenders Jake Allen and Jordan Binnington. That does not include Canadians Vince Dunn, who is out with an upper-body injury, Robby Fabbri, who has played in eight postseason games for the Blues, head coach Craig Berube and general manager Doug Armstrong.
Of those 15 Canadians currently actively playing on the Blues, five are from Ontario, three are from Saskatchewan, two are from Quebec, Manitoba and Alberta, and one is from New Brunswick. They have also represented Team Canada internationally with great success. They have combined for two Olympic gold medals, five World Hockey Championships, four World Cups and and two gold medals at the World Junior Hockey Championships. The Olympic gold medalists are both blueliners as Bouwmeester of Edmonton and Pietrangelo of King City, Ontario won a gold medal for Canada at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. Bouwmeester has also won two World Cup gold medals and two World Hockey Championship gold medals; Pietrangelo has one World Cup gold and one World Junior Hockey Championship gold; O’Reilly has won one World Cup gold and two World Hockey Championship gold medals; Schenn has one World Hockey Championship gold and Thomas has one World Junior Hockey Championship gold.
The Stanley Cup Finals begin Monday from Boston. Stay tuned to The Sports Daily for extensive coverage.
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