Jube Theory - How The Hockey Gods Will Stick It To The Leafs (And Their Fans) This Playoff

A Jube Theory is a rarely researched hypothesis based on limited observation.

Jube Theory - The Los Angeles Kings will win the 2012 Stanley Cup
  

 As a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs, I know pain.,I know disappointment, I know unrealistic expectations, and I know the anger of the Hockey Gods.  It can take generations to appease an angered Hockey God, and there are times when you don't even know what made 'em angry in the first place.  Perhaps the Leafs moving to the Campbell Conference, away from their traditional rivals, angered them.  Perhaps Harold Ballard's countless hockey-crippling, and fan-enraging moves angered them.  Nobody knows for sure, but the Leafs have not hoisted Lord Stanley's hardware since 1967, and that's where this theory comes from.

Y'see, there's been some long Stanley Cup droughts that have ended since '67;

- The Boston Bruins went 37 seasons before breaking their slump last year
- The Detroit Red Wings had gone 41 seasons without the Cup until Steve Yzerman & Co. brought the title back to HockeyTown in '97
- The Chicago Black Hawks endured 47 seasons before Patrick Kane's anti-climactic OT winner in 2010
- The New York Rangers suffered the longest Cup-less run in NHL history of 53 seasons, until the Mark Messier-led '94 roster brought the Stanley Cup back to Broadway

From a Canadian perspective, since 1993, every Canadian-based NHL team has appeared in the Stanley Cup Final (not including the recently repatriated Winnipeg Jets), with the (gah...) Montreal Canadiens winning their (gah...) 24th title in '93.

Which brings us to the longest current streak without winning the Stanley Cup.  There are 3 franchises tied at 43 seasons (and counting); the Los Angeles Kings, the St. Louis Blues, and the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Now, Los Angeles and St. Louis were part of the first expansion of the NHL back in '67, and neither have won the Cup.

And here, gentle readers, is where the Hockey Gods step in...

As I've watched the Bruins end their streak last season, and the Black Hawks hoisted the Cup in 2010, I came to realize that the Leafs are the only Original 6 team to not win the Stanley Cup since expansion.  As this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs progessed, and the Kings kept rolling (12-2 thru 3 rounds), it all became crystal clear:  The Los Angeles Kings will win the 2012 Stanley Cup, ending one more epic drought, and sticking it to the Toronto Maple Leafs (and their fans) for another season.

So, let me be the first to congratulate the St. Louis Blues on winning the 2013 Stanley Cup.

Well played, Hockey Gods...Well played...

Gah.