There were no Canadian teams in the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs, the first time that has happened since the 1969-70 season.
For the most part, fans in Canada understood this was a once-a-generation occurrence.
A rare eclipse.
Better days were sure to come for the seven teams playing north of the 49th parallel, many of them in some state of rebuilding or another.
Now the better days are here again.
In the first week of the New Year, as the Edmonton Oilers prepared to meet the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre Sunday, all of Canada’s teams were either in a playoff position or in a legitimate hunt for one.