Last Canadian team eliminated from NHL playoffs

It strikes at the heart of hockey fans coast to coast.

For the first time since 1996, not a single Canadian team is left after the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The last Canuck team standing was the Ottawa Senators, but they were eliminated by the New Rangers in Game 7 on Thursday night.

For some hockey fans, having no Canadian teams left to cheer for has sucked all the fun out of the playoffs, while others said they will simply switch teams that have Canadian players on them.

The Phoenix Coyotes have 15 Canadian players on its roster, while the Nashville Predators have 10 Canadians.

Meanwhile, it appeared to be Game 7 madness in the NHL playoffs, with the last four Stanley Cup winners all knocked out in the first round.

But it’s the kind of drama that hockey fans crave, as they look forward to two more do or die games Thursday night.

The defending Stanley cup champion Boston Bruins had their hopes for a repeat. They were crushed by the Washington Capitals Wednesday night.

“As a hockey fan watching it, even if you don’t have any brooding interest, you know what’s at stake, you know both teams are deathly afraid to give up a bad goal because [with] that goal, you just don’t lose the game, it ends their season. There’s such a finale to it,” said Jim Lang with Sportsnet 590 The Fan.

But it’s not so easy to take the Cup two years in a row. The last team to do it was the Detroit Red Wings back in 1998.

Of course, the Toronto Maple Leafs got the trifecta from 1962-1964.