Oilers’ loved ones send video message cheering them on in Stanley Cup Final

The Edmonton Oilers may have lost Game 1 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final in Florida on Saturday night, but that doesn’t mean their massive contingent of fans isn’t still cheering them on from back home.

Of course, that group includes the players’ family and friends, all of whom have sacrificed an enormous amount to help this Oilers team get to within four wins of its first championship in 34 years.

The Oilers shared a heartwarming video on Saturday to their official Twitter account. The video contained a collection of cheers and well wishes from their players’ various loved ones, intercut with game footage and music intended to get Oilers fans into the mood for Game 1 against the Florida Panthers.

“Hey Leon, you’ve always dreamed of winning the Stanley Cup with the Oilers,” started one of the messages, spoken in German. “Now, you’re just four wins away from your biggest dream … For our family, our friends, and for me, you are already the champ.”

“Hey Sam, it’s Rach,” went another, ostensibly from Rachel Gagner. “Was just thinking about you and wanted to say good luck … You’ve been dreaming of the Stanley Cup since you were our kids’ age, and now they’re here watching you in it.”

“You sat outside Joey’s house the other day, missing him,” she added later in the video. “But he’d be so proud of you right now.”

In all, the Oilers compiled messages directed at Draisaitl, Gagner, Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse, and Connor McDavid, although many of them addressed the team as a whole in the three-minute video.

The Oilers returned to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2006 by defeating the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final. Their task now is to get past the Florida Panthers, who lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in last year’s Stanley Cup Final and are now up 1-0 in this year’s series.

Carter Verhaeghe, Evan Rodrigues, and Eetu Luostarinen all scored on Saturday night to propel the Panthers to a 3-0 Game 1 win. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 32 shots he faced for the third playoff shutout of his NHL career.

Of course, the Oilers fell behind in each of their last two series before getting to this point, but they have yet to fall behind by multiple games in any series this spring. They’ll try to get back to their winning ways when the Stanley Cup Final resumes at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday at 6:00 p.m. MT.