The Canadian Contingent of the NHL - by Moses

  This year of 2018/19 there are seven Canadian Teams in the NHL.  The Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadians, Winnipeg Jets, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks and the Ottawa Senators.  The best of the bunch this writers' opinion is in order; 1) Toronto Maple Leafs 2) Winnipeg Jets 3) Calgary Flames 4) Montreal Canadians 5) Edmonton Oilers 6) Vancouver Canucks 7) Ottawa Senators.

  Each team has a strong core.  Toronto has John Tavares, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Morgan Rielly, and Frederik Andersen to lead the way.  Winnipeg has Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Dustin Byfuglien, and Patrik Laine.  We're probably going to see Winnipeg vs Calgary in the Western Conference Finals.  Calgary is another powerhouse with studs Johnny Gaudreau, Mark Giordano, Matthew Tkachuk, Elias Lindholm, and Sean Monahan. Montreal has a good young core in Max Domi, Jonathan Drouin and Thomas Tatar, and strong leadership with Shea Weber and Carey Price.
  
  Wouldn't it be justice to Canada to see an all four Canadian team Semi-Finals this year.  It's achievable.  Toronto vs Montreal in the Eastern Conference Finals, and Winnipeg vs Calgary in the Western Finals.  Canadians bring their heart and souls to every Hockey game in our home court.  What's missing from the game from the American contingent is the passion for the game that we have here.  Are we to believe that the people in Nashville, Columbus, Carolina, Las Vegas, Arizona, (and soon to be Seattle) really give a shit about their Hockey teams and their players?  All they want is the to say they are the best, the American way.  Do they really know the micro of the game of Hockey itself (like we do in Canada) ?  How many times do we have to see Canadian Markets being sidestepped in the name of making the game of Hockey a money maker and appeasing American interests.  This game of Hockey is a Canadian thing.

  Let's analyze the remaining Canadian teams;  Edmonton still has a shot at making the playoffs, led by Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl among others they are top heavy in offence and would benefit from better Goaltending.  Having already fired McLellan and their General Manager they are definitely serious about success.  Hitchcock is a winner having already hoisted the prized Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars.

  Vancouver and Ottawa are teams for the future.  The Canucks have standouts Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser.  Ottawa likewise with Thomas Chabot, Matt Duchesne, and Mark Stone.  They may be out of the playoffs this year, but look out in a few years...

  It still stands to reason that Gary Betteman will eventually be taken out of power with a Canadian brought in to govern the owners.  This would provide the NHL with four more teams in Canada, namely Quebec City, Quebec, Markham, Ontario, Regina, Saskatchewan, and Halifax, Nova Scotia.

  The reality is that Canadians deserve a sounding board and drive to Hockey.  We live it here.  We play it, go to the games, watch the games, and buy Hockey cards.  We commemorate to the World Juniors each and every year, watch the Olympics with our hearts on the line, and live through the Stanley Cup Finals every year.  Is the current NHL the vision as to how Gordie Howe envisioned the League to be upon his passing?