The Grey Cup is sacred to Canadians but The Stanley Cup is Canada. In 1919, with the Montreal Canadiens and Seattle Metropolitans tied up in the Stanley Cup final, several players contracted Spanish influenza. When one of those afflicted died, a decision was made to cancel the series.
From 1893 through 2003 that year remains the only year in which The Stanley Cup was not presented. It took a worldwide epidemic for that anomaly to occur. 1919 was 86 years ago.
There's a natural conclusion to this entry but I'd rather not state the obvious. This is one Canadian with a red and white tear streaming down his left eye. You know what happens next.
