The Vancouver Canucks, the Seattle Seahawks and the Cascadia Curse

Dec 19 2017, 5:26 pm

As a Canucks fan, it can feel like the team I cheer for is cursed. As it turns out, the Canucks aren’t the only team in the Cascadia region that is cursed when it comes to winning a major championship.

The Cascadia region, which includes major cities Vancouver, Seattle and Portland, has not won a major championship since 1979. For the purpose of this discussion, I am defining a ‘major championship’ as a championship in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB. I’m a fan of the Lions and Whitecaps, so please don’t bombard me with messages about Grey Cups and the Soccer Bowl of 1979.

I don’t have to tell Canucks fans that the Vancouver has never won an NHL championship (the Millionaires won the Stanley Cup in 1915, but that predates the NHL). And of course the Grizzlies never won anything during their glorious six seasons in Vancouver.

Here is how the rest of teams in the Cascadia region have done:

Team Inaugural Season Last season completed Championships Finals appearances Seasons
Canucks 1970 2013 0 3 43
Grizzlies 1995 2001 0 0 6
Sonics 1967 2008 1 3 41
Mariners 1977 2013 0 0 36
Seahawks 1976 2012 0 1 36
Trailblazers 1970 2013 1 3 43

Collectively, that’s 205 seasons with only two championships. That’s also 186 seasons since the last time a team from this region won something. Remarkably, the Vancouver Canucks have the most finals appearances since the Seattle SuperSonics won the NBA championship in 1979. The Canucks have also come the closest to breaking the streak, losing in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final twice.

On February 2nd, the Seattle Seahawks will attempt to break this curse in the Super Bowl against the Denver Broncos. I’m no football expert (I’m the hockey guy), but it seems like the game could go either way as the Seahawks are currently listed as a slight underdog.

A lot of people have compared the season the Seahawks have had to the one that the Canucks had in 2011. Lets hope that Seattle gets a better ending.

DH Vancouver StaffDH Vancouver Staff

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