Charles Barkley high on Maple Leafs, says Stanley Cup coming back to Canada

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Sir Charles thinks Lord Stanley is finally coming home to Canada this year.

Charles Barkley has predicted not one, but two Canadian franchises making the Stanley Cup final.

The basketball legend might talk about hoops for a living these days on TNT, but he’s also a passionate hockey fan and seems to get a kick out of opining on the NHL as well. He did just that on TNT’s NHL coverage earlier this week before the playoffs got underway, surprising his colleagues with some bold takes.

Barkley began by taking the Toronto Maple Leafs over the Ottawa Senators in Round 1 in the Battle of Ontario, saying, “My man Auston Matthews, Scottsdale, Arizona,” (Barkley most famously played for the Phoenix Suns and spends plenty of time in Arizona).

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He then had the Leafs beating the Tampa Bay Lightning in the conference semifinal after first wavering on the Lightning taking the Battle of Florida over the defending champion Florida Panthers. Barkley felt that goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy would be the difference against the Panthers, but the Leafs would prevail in the next round.

“This is their year,” Barkley said of the Leafs.

When told no Canadian team had won it all since 1993, Barkley had a quick reply: “They’re going to stick it to us because of the tariffs.”

Barkley went a step further, not only placing the Maple Leafs into the conference final for the first time since 2002, but as the conference’s last team standing, which hasn’t happened since Toronto’s most recent Stanley Cup win in 1967.

Barkley sang a rendition of O Canada while backing the Maple Leafs. He has long been a fan of the City of Toronto.

The 62-year-old from Leeds, Alabama, is a bit of an unlikely hockey fan, but loves the sport. He has said in the past it stems from going to Philadelphia Flyers games in the 1980s when he was playing for the 76ers. He counts Flyers legend Rick Tocchet — now the head coach of the Vancouver Canucks — as a close friend and also is pals with former Flyer Rod Brind’Amour, now Carolina’s head coach.

Barkley knew that the Edmonton Oilers had faced the Los Angeles Kings four straight times and again went with Edmonton. He also opted for Edmonton over the Las Vegas Golden Knights and the Oilers to beat Colorado to reach the final.

Barkley wasn’t as kind to the other Canadian teams participating this year, predicting the Montreal Canadiens would fall to Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals (Ovechkin scored the overtime winner in Game 1 not long after Barkley made his call), and that the NHL’s top regular-season team, the Winnipeg Jets, would get by the St. Louis Blues, but fall to the Avalanche in Round 2.

Barkley clearly knows his stuff, referencing the franchise-record winning streak by the Blues (though he said 14 games, not 12, he was close enough). Still, he gave the Jets the edge there.

Barkley compared the Western Conference playoff gauntlet to the West in the NBA, which also is loaded with most of the league’s best teams, saying it’s “crazy.”

He said the Dallas Stars-Avalanche matchup is “bananas,” but knew that Stars goal scorer Jason Robertson is injured and that helped him pick the Avalanche.

In the end, Barkley predicted the Oilers would win the Stanley Cup, breaking the hearts of Maple Leaf fans everywhere, noting the Oilers would do what Florida did last year after losing in the final the previous year.

Barkley had also picked the Oilers to go all the way last year and received a jersey from the club.