For Edmonton Oilers fans who had travelled with their team along its rollercoaster season, the end of the journey in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals was painful, but there’s always next year.
“Devastated,” said Tina Duncan of Edmonton. A self-described Oilers “superfan,” she attended the watch party at Rogers Place Arena, only to see the Oilers lose to the Florida Panthers by 2–1 after a hard-fought Game 7 of the series.
“Everybody was hanging their heads low,” she said. “It was kind of depressing walking out of the arena. The cops were all there for crowd control, but nobody was doing anything … everybody was just walking to their vehicles and going home.”
It was a tough ending to an almost storybook season. Initially, the Oilers struggled but ended up with a solid season that saw, among other things, a 16-game winning streak. During the playoffs, they beat Los Angeles, Vancouver, and Dallas before facing Florida.
Then they came back from losing the first three games against Florida to tie the series 3–3 before the June 24 winner-take-all game.
“Still sad … still devastated,” said Oilers fan Mark Giampa on the morning after the final game. He told The Epoch Times he’d been in Las Vegas when news came the Oilers had made it to Game 7, so he and his fiancé changed their flight plans and came back a day early.
“If they won, we wanted to be in Edmonton,” he said. “We were excited.”
Instead, it was a heartbreaking loss.
“It seemed like a storybook season,” said Mr. Giampa. After a rough start, everyone had counted the Oilers out by Thanksgiving. “And next thing you know, we make it to the Stanley Cup Final Game 7.”
Despite the disappointing ending, Mr. Giampa and Ms. Duncan said they won’t stop cheering the team on.
“I will never give up on my Oilers,” said Ms. Duncan.
The attitude was similar in the hometown of Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. Residents in the Saskatchewan town of Imperial (pop. 372) gathered in the local arena to watch the Stanley Cup finals.
“It was exciting to get together and share in the joy of watching Kris and the Oilers get to where they were,” said Joslin Freeman, town administrator and Mr. Knoblauch’s cousin.
“Everybody is proud of Kris and what he’s done and what he’s accomplished,” she said. “They came from the bottom of the barrel at the beginning of the year, and they made it to as far as they could possibly make it, so nobody’s got anything to hang their heads about.”
And while the Oilers did not bring the Cup back to Canada, they still gave the city a tremendous boost, according to Edmonton city councillor Tim Cartmell.
“What a roll, especially the last couple of months. It’s just been awesome,” said Mr. Cartmell.
After some difficult years that included the pandemic, the playoff run “gave the city, all of us, something we can all rally behind. … So much positive energy,” he said.
“We’re a little disappointed, a little down … but really proud,” said Mr. Cartmell.
The Oilers did more than just bring people together, he said. The crowds that packed the downtown throughout the playoffs brought millions of dollars that might have gone elsewhere.
The first three series generated roughly $175 million in economic impact through game nights and watch nights downtown, “and it’ll be much higher once it’s all tallied up from the final series,” he said.
He pointed to the crowds that packed the Ice District in downtown Edmonton, which includes Rogers Place Arena and Fan Park, filling restaurants and bars.
Edmonton Mayor Amerjeet Sohi and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith posted their congratulations on the team’s playoff run.
“I am so proud of our @edmontonoilers and so proud to be an Edmontonian,” Mr. Sohi posted on Facebook. “I know this isn’t the result we were hoping for, but this has been an incredible 9 weeks.”
“Congratulations @EdmontonOilers on an incredible hard-fought playoff run!” Premier Smith posted on X.” We’re all proud of you. To our captain Connor McDavid on winning the Conn Smythe, congratulations!”
Fans are already looking to next year.
“I didn’t think they were going to get to the Cup final, but I’m sure glad they did,” said Ms. Duncan. “We’ve got to keep the momentum up and go into next season.”
Back in Mr. Knoblauch’s hometown, they are also looking to the future.
“There’s always next year,” said Ms. Freeman.
Mr. Cartmell had a similar view.
“Starting all over again is going to be a challenge,” he said. “But all the pieces are there … the anticipation level is really high for what this team is going to do in the next few years,” he said.
“We’d rather go the whole length and lose by one goal than not have had the experience at all. … It’s been a terrific couple of months.”
