EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Kris Knoblauch saw up close how crazy Edmonton is about the Oilers’ playoff run thanks to a mix-up with his car keys the night they clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup Final .
Knoblauch had to walk home and, in doing so, passed through a jubilant crowd, a scene he described as “chaos.” The excitement has only increased since his team, which once trailed the Florida Panthers 3-0 in the series, forced a Game 6 return home on Friday night.
“You see the excitement, the flags everywhere, people driving with Oilers flags and their gear around town even when it’s not a game day,” Knoblauch said Wednesday. “You can tell this means a lot to the city.”
It means a lot to generations of fans, some old enough like Darin Winder to remember Edmonton’s five-championship dynasty from 1984 to 1990, a glorious run that filled the arena rafters with blue, orange and white banners.
Winder, 55, grew up in nearby Camrose and went to the old Edmonton Gardens with his father when the Oilers were in the World Hockey Association before joining the NHL and riding the wave of the 2006 run to the finals. of the Cup that ended with a seven-game loss against Carolina. The Oilers’ back-to-back wins have fueled hope across Alberta.
“It’s been a magical race,” Winder said. “The game has begun. Come on. Now we have a real chance, right? Two games, we can do that.”
Two more wins would mean completing a comeback that was accomplished only once in league history and a long time ago, when the Toronto Maple Leafs rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Detroit Red Wings in 1942. The odds They are still high, but fans since last week have been betting. Put signs that say “BELIEVE” in the windows of the center and there will be no shortage of support to make some history.
“It’s been nothing short of extraordinary to see the way the fans have come together,” said retired defenseman Shawn Belle, an Edmonton native who played some of his NHL games for his hometown club. “Knowing that the fans are so behind you and want to see you win and that you really electrified a city, it almost feels like it’s a little bit of a responsibility for you to show up every day and do your best because you know they’re doing their best. and they paid tons of money to see you play and that brings out the best qualities in the players.”
From Connor McDavid’s heroics that put him in the conversation for the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP to Stuart Skinner’s play in net, the Oilers have brought out the best in the city that lives and breathes hockey. After the 8-1 victory to avoid the sweep, the city was flooded with people honking their car horns and playing the team’s victory song, “La Bamba,” in the streets.
When asked before the series what the best part of living in Edmonton was, McDavid said, “the passion of the fans.”
“They understand the game,” McDavid said. “There is a long history of great teams and great players there. A great fan base.”
The Oilers are in the finals for the first time since 2006, although the championship series was held at the Rogers Center during the pandemic in a closed situation that did not please anyone, neither the players nor the fans. The city of nearly a million people is the heart of the oil industry in the region for which the team is named, and the stunned silence that occurred when the Oilers fell behind 3-0 last week is long gone.
A worker at a local cancer treatment center said her patients are fascinated by the games. Gretzky, Messier, Fuhr and Kurri jerseys are still popular, but McDavid and Draisaitl are everywhere.
“The T-shirts you see walking down the streets on any given day, the flags on cars, the fever is huge,” said Pete Mason, a bartender at a pub near Rogers Place. “It’s exciting. It’s fun. Is it exhausting? Am I too old for this? Absolutely. But it’s fun.”
And then there’s Friday, with the Stanley Cup in the building for Florida’s third chance to hoist it. But the Panthers will have to deal with a sold-out, excited crowd hoping to take the Oilers to a Game 7 in Florida on Monday.
After watching fireworks and sparklers on Whyte Avenue near the bar he manages, Connor Yakabuski expects the atmosphere for Game 6 to be crazy.
“I think the city is going to be just wild,” he said. “If we win, it will be a madhouse.”
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AP NHL Playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL
