On June 9, 1993, the Montreal Canadiens [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens] beat the Los Angeles Kings [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/los-angeles-kings] 4-1 to capture their 24th Stanley Cup, defeating Wayne Gretzky and his team in just five games. After the win, Patrick Roy was awarded the second Conn Smythe Trophy of his storied career. He would go on to win another one with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001, becoming not only the first player to win the playoffs’ MVP title three times, but also the first player to win it in three different decades, with his first win coming in 1986. This 1993 conquest by the Canadiens is also the last time a Canadian team won Lord Stanley’s Mug, but it has to be said that the American teams that have triumphed since have always had more than their fair share of Canadian players. This year, the Vegas Golden Knights [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/vegas-golden-knights] have 18 Canadians on their roster while the Carolina Hurricanes [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/carolina-hurricanes] have nine, ensuring that Canada will once again leave its mark on the Cup. Canadiens Dobes Vows To Be Even Stronger [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/canadiens-dobes-vows-to-be-even-stronger] Canadiens Report Card Bottom Six Edition [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/canadiens-report-card-bottom-six-edition] Canadiens’ Gallagher Given Permission To Speak To Other Teams [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/latest-news/canadiens-gallagher-given-permission-to-speak-to-other-teams] It’s been 33 years since the Habs have won the big prize and in those years, they’ve made the Cup final once while their journey was stopped in the Conference Final three times, against the Philadelphia Flyers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/philadelphia-flyers] in the Halak spring of 2010, against the New York Rangers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers] with the infamous Carey Price/Chris Kreider collision and this season, against the Hurricanes in what could rightfully be called the Dobes spring. While this latest journey to the Conference Final came as a surprise with Montreal being ahead of schedule in its rebuild, it feels different from 2010 and 2014. Back then, it felt like the organization was banking on great goaltending and rolling the dice on offense; it’s no longer the case. With Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Ivan Demidov, and Lane Hutson, the Canadiens have more firepower than they’ve had since their last Cup conquest, and it certainly feels like they have reasons to hope their 25th championship could come soon. If you ask Demidov, he’ll even tell you he believes this team will win a few Cups in the not-so-distant future. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow Karine on X @KarineHains [https://x.com/KarineHains] Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/karinehains.bsky.social] and Threads @karinehains [https://www.threads.net/@karinehains]. Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/] for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens. Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens] on The Hockey News. Subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free [https://thehockeynews.store/products/print-subscription]. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here [http://eepurl.com/i7OC4I].
