from Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun,

When 2013-14 coach of the year Patrick Roy stood behind the Colorado bench for a recent exhibition game against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre, a banner dangling high over his head from the rafters underscored the woes Canada’s NHL teams have endured over the past two decades.

There, hanging from the ceiling of the cavernous arena, was the prestigious flag honouring the 1993 Stanley Cup champions.

The same Habs team that featured Roy as its star goalie.

Even Roy could not have predicted at the time that no Canadian team would earn the right to smear its collective fingerprints on hockey’s shiny Holy Grail for the next 21 years — and counting.

That’s how bad things have been for the NHL franchises located north of the border.

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