By Zane Miller
The Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers will face each other in the 110th Stanley Cup Finals, as both teams look to be the NHL champions for the 2023-24 season. The two teams have never played against each other previously in the Finals.
The Panthers are battling for their first championship in franchise history as they fell in both of their previous Finals appearances, getting swept by the Colorado Avalanche in 1996 and losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games in 2023.
Meanwhile, the Oilers are searching for their their sixth Stanley Cup in franchise history, but their first since 1990, where they took down the Boston Bruins in five games. In their only Finals appearance since, they made it all seven games in 2006 against the Carolina Hurricanes before their eventual defeat. However, a championship for the Oilers this year would be the first for a Canadian team since the Montreal Canadiens accomplished the feat in 1993.
Out of the 256 potential Stanley Cup matchups that would be possible under the current playoff format, 36 of them have occurred so far.
The most common matchup out of the ones that could still be possible to re-occur is the Montreal Canadiens v. Chicago Blackhawks, as the franchises have faced each other five times, coming in 1931, 1944, 1965, 1971, and 1973.
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