{"id":12174,"date":"2026-06-04T17:02:41","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T17:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12174"},"modified":"2026-06-04T17:02:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T17:02:41","slug":"alexander-should-we-sympathize-with-canada-over-its-stanley-cup-drought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12174","title":{"rendered":"Alexander: Should we sympathize with Canada over its Stanley Cup drought?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The world according to Jim:<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2022 It is now 33 seasons since a team from Canada last won the Stanley Cup, and while in the past we\u2019ve snarkily noted that drought in This Space every year in which the drought was extended, somehow I don\u2019t feel nearly so much like rubbing it in this year. I mean, hasn\u2019t that country suffered enough? \u2026<\/p>\n

Read more Freebie of the week: Tour the old Yorba Cemetery in Yorba Linda<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022 There is this: The country\u2019s seven NHL teams continue to go without, but the Cup remains in the permanent possession of the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, located in the one city that can certainly speak to Cup droughts. The Maple Leafs are 59 years removed from not only their last Cup but their last trip to the championship round, and 22 years since they\u2019ve even gotten to a conference semifinal. \u2026<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s quiz, then, Part I: Why is Kerry Fraser still memorable in Toronto? Answer below. \u2026<\/p>\n

\u2022 The latest evidence that legalized gambling is a stain on the sports industry (and certain segments of social media, with its anonymity and lack of filter, might not be that far behind): The online abuse that Dodgers reliever Tanner Scott\u2019s wife received after her husband blew a save on Saturday night, including a threat against their baby. It\u2019s not the first instance, and his isn\u2019t the first baseball family to deal with this.<\/p>\n

Suggestion to those cretins who feel emboldened to act out this way: If you lose a bet, that\u2019s on you, not the athlete. Grow up and deal with it. \u2026<\/p>\n

\u2022 Along those lines, an NCAA survey last fall revealed that 36% of Division I men\u2019s basketball players \u201creported experiencing social media abuse related to sports betting within the last year.\u201d \u2026<\/p>\n

\u2022 The sports industry\u2019s coziness with the gambling business resembles the way a snake\u2019s embrace gets tighter and tighter until it squeezes the life out of you. In retrospect, the Supreme Court decision that opened the widespread legalization of sports betting was a terrible, terrible mistake. \u2026<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u2022 Oh, and have we forgotten fifth-year senior Brendan Sorsby, the quarterback suing the NCAA to regain his eligibility after transferring to Texas Tech? A response to his lawsuit claimed that Sorsby bet \u201cat least $90,000 on more than 9,000 bets over the course of his college career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shouldn\u2019t that get you barred or at least suspended, rather than being able to profit from the transfer portal? \u2026<\/p>\n

\u2022 Quiz I answer: Fraser missed what should have been a high-sticking penalty on Wayne Gretzky in Game 6 of the Kings-Maple Leafs Western Conference final series on May 27, 1993. The Kings won that Game 6 at home on Gretzky\u2019s power-play goal 1:41 into overtime and then won Game 7 in Toronto to advance to their first Stanley Cup Final, where they would lose in five games to Montr\u00e9al. That was Canada\u2019s last Cup victory.<\/p>\n

Fraser acknowledged that he missed it in a 2016 first-person story in the Players\u2019 Tribune. I\u2019m guessing longtime Leafs fans still haven\u2019t forgiven him. \u2026<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u2022 That leads us to Quiz II: How many games in that Kings-Canadiens series were decided in overtime, and who decided them? Answer below. \u2026<\/p>\n

\u2022 The College Football Playoff schedule lists the Rose Bowl, a national quarterfinal, as time TBA on Jan. 1. The guess is that it will start either at 1 p.m. or 5 p.m., so we can at least guarantee that the colorful sunset that traditionally reflects off the mountains will not come at the traditional end of the third quarter. \u2026<\/p>\n

Read more Dunn: Top tennis players to be honored in Newport Beach<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022 The CFP championship game in Las Vegas will take place on Jan. 25. That is way, way too late. Maybe instead of trying to copy the NFL, the college game should lean into what makes it special, move up the playoffs and crown its champion on New Year\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

But that would require thought, effort and leadership. Anyone in college football capable of those traits? Didn\u2019t think so. \u2026<\/p>\n

\u2022 I\u2019m not surprised that MLB owners have attempted to tie the end of streaming blackouts to the implementation of a salary cap, using the pooling and equal sharing of all TV revenue as a wedge. How better for the billionaires to get the sympathy of working class fans? \u2026<\/p>\n

\u2022 Those issues are not<\/em> inseparable. MLB could have ended geographically-driven blackouts on its streaming platform long ago but chose not to. And the TV revenue could be pooled and shared equally \u2013 and a salary floor established \u2013 without a hard salary cap. (If the TV revenues are shared, wouldn\u2019t that be less for big market teams such as the Dodgers to spend anyway?)<\/p>\n

Reminder, folks: The salary cap issue is not really about competitive balance, but rather pumping up franchise valuations. And the billionaire owners don\u2019t really care about you. \u2026<\/p>\n

\u2022 I love that Dave Roberts came right out and said it in a conversation with USA Today\u2019s Bob Nightengale: \u201cMy honest opinion is the majority of takes about the Dodgers couldn\u2019t be more lazy, that it\u2019s just about the payroll. \u2026 I actually think it\u2019s a competitive advantage in the sense that people feel that way, and not look at themselves in the mirror and see how they can operate things better. So that\u2019s beneficial for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re going to be baseball\u2019s villain anyway, no reason not to fire back. \u2026<\/p>\n

\u2022 Quiz II answer: Three of Montr\u00e9al\u2019s four victories in the 1993 Final were achieved on overtime goals. \u00c9ric Desjardins won Game 2, 51 seconds into overtime after tying the game at 18:47 of the third period following Marty McSorley\u2019s illegal stick penalty. (Pause here for Kings fans to direct one more muttered insult at Jacques Demers, the Canadiens coach who called for the stick measurement.)<\/p>\n

John LeClair then won Games 3 and 4 in overtime for the Canadiens in Inglewood, 34 seconds in to decide Game 3 and 14:37 into OT in Game 4. \u2026<\/p>\n

\u2022 I know, Kings fans. Just think of those 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup banners in your own rafters and you\u2019ll feel better. \u2026<\/p>\n

\u2022 Today\u2019s Father\u2019s Day shopping suggestions, especially if Dad (or Grandpa) likes sports books:<\/p>\n

\u201cEarned: The True Cost Of Greatness from One of Hockey\u2019s Fiercest Competitors\u201d by Chris Pronger (with the foreword by Teemu Selanne, which is a story in itself); \u201cLandon: A Memoir,\u201d by Landon Donovan; \u201cNolan: The Singular Life of an American Original,\u201d a biography of Nolan Ryan by Tim Brown; \u201cCrossroads: A Memoir in Baseball and Life\u201d by Dusty Baker, which will be released Tuesday, and \u201cBig Fan: Two Friends, 82,490 Miles and the Wild, Wonderful Sports We Love,\u201d by Joe Posnanski and Michael Schur, with the foreword by Tom Hanks.<\/p>\n

Hint to relatives: I\u2019ve already read the first two. The rest? There\u2019s your shopping list.<\/p>\n

Read more Drummond: Lottery to pick purchasers of affordable homes in Yorba Linda townhome project<\/a><\/p>\n

jalexander@scng.com<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leading off today\u2019s bucket o\u2019 notes: That Montr\u00e9al victory over the Kings in 1993 keeps getting smaller in the rearview mirror.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion-columnist","category-represents-the-opinion-of-the-author-who-is-either-a-paid-columnist-or-an-unpaid-guest-columnist"],"yoast_head":"\nAlexander: Should we sympathize with Canada over its Stanley Cup drought? - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=12174\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alexander: Should we sympathize with Canada over its Stanley Cup drought? 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