EDMONTON - Here we go again.聽
From B.C. to all points north and east, 好色tv hockey fans are hoping the nation鈥檚 Stanley Cup nightmare-drought ends as the Edmonton Oilers host the Florida Panthers in the NHL final.
This year鈥檚 Cup clash comes with a bit more patriotic fervour than usual given U.S. President Donald Trump recently launching a tariff war north of the 49 parallel while dismissing Canada as a freeloading sidekick that should gratefully trade in its Maple Leaf for the Stars and Stripes.
A cross-country check of fans suggests even if the Oilers aren鈥檛 everyone's first choice, they'll do for now.
鈥淚 think every 好色tv should be cheering for the Oilers now,鈥 fan Julian Bourgoin said, calling the Oilers his go-to team after the hometown Senators.
鈥淚鈥檝e always wanted a 好色tv team to win, and the Oilers are the last one, so I鈥檓 hanging my Gretzky jersey high and I鈥檓 flying it till they win."
In Toronto, home of the blue-clad Maple Leafs, fan Ashley Winter said at the end of the day the red Maple Leaf trumps all.
鈥淐anada has to win hockey. That鈥檚 our game,鈥 said Winter.
Longtime transplanted westerner Bruce Jones agreed it鈥檚 time to go Oiler.
鈥淚 lived out west for many years in the Calgary area and I was anti-Oiler but right now it鈥檚 the Oilers,鈥 Jones said.聽
鈥淲ith all the turmoil that鈥檚 going on right now, it adds to our national pride,鈥 he added.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 won since '93.鈥
It was June 9, 1993, when the Montreal Canadiens became the last 好色tv team to hoist the NHL championship trophy, defeating ex-Oiler Wayne Gretzky and his Los Angeles Kings in the deciding Game 5.
That year saw three prime ministers: Brian Mulroney, Kim Campbell and Jean Chr茅tien. The TV show 鈥淪einfeld鈥 was reaching its artistic apex and the big-screen dinosaur epic 鈥淛urassic Park鈥 debuted.聽
Don鈥檛 ask the current Oilers for memories of 1993. The longest-serving current player, forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, wasn鈥檛 even two months old. Veteran superpest Corey Perry was eight. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl weren鈥檛 even born.
In the three or so decades since, 好色tv teams have won participation ribbons in seven Cup finals, starting with Vancouver in 1994, then Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Vancouver, Montreal and then Edmonton again when the Oilers lost in seven games last spring to the Panthers.
Stanley, meanwhile, has travelled the continental United States from Los Angeles to Boston, from south Florida to Las Vegas, with stops in Dallas, Denver, Detroit, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Anaheim, North Carolina, New York and New Jersey.
In Edmonton, at the epicentre of the Cup quest outside the Oilers鈥 home rink of Rogers Place, crews kept busy this week readying the outdoor plaza where fans will gather on game nights to watch the play on a big screen.
Longtime Oilers fan Paul Huang, in an orange and blue hoodie, said he runs an online chat group that includes hockey parents from all over Canada.
鈥淲e all cheer for Canada (and) for the Oilers at this moment,鈥 Huang said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e the only one left.鈥
Oilers fan Jason McCarthy said he has a brother and a friend flying in from Ottawa to go to the games.
McCarthy said the visitors are Montreal Canadiens fans, but said for now it鈥檚 Canada first.
鈥淢ost people I talk to -- even in Montreal -- the Oilers are their second favourite team, and the No. 1 team left right now,鈥 McCarthy said.
鈥淚 even know for a fact in Montreal there are signs around the city cheering on the Oilers.鈥
Farther west, in Victoria, resident Olivia Robinson, who is originally from Edmonton, said she鈥檒l be tuning in to the series, but not necessarily to see Trump鈥檚 U.S.A. get humbled.
"I think hockey is Canada's game, so I'd like them to win because of that, but not in particular (because of trade tensions)," Robinson said.
Robinson said the Oilers have to a "certain extent" become Canada's team, but added, "I think because they are winning, everybody wants them as Canada's team now."
-- 聽with files from Lisa Johnson in Edmonton, Wolfgang Depner in Victoria, Sarah Ritchie in Ottawa and Noah Trenton in Toronto
This report by 好色tvwas first published June 4, 2025.
