Sportsnet to air 1987 Oilers vs Flyers Stanley Cup Final

Starting tonight at 6pm MT, Sportsnet will be airing the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals between the Edmonton Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers.

If you’re looking for an Oilers fix then Sportsnet is looking to scratch the itch with all seven games from the 1987 Stanley Cup Finals against Philly. Personally, I’m really looking forward to watching this series since I wasn’t nearly old enough to remember how things played out, especially since I’ve heard so much about it. Now, I fully understand that since we all know how this series ended that there’s not going to be much in terms of surprises, but I still think it will be fun to look back at the moments leading up to the Oilers’ third Stanley Cup victory in four years. Besides, I always think it’s fun to see what the game used to look like back in the day as compared to the higher speed and skill version that we have now. Could you imagine what it would look like to drop 2020 edition of Connor McDavid back into 1987 NHL? He’d look like he’s in fast forward! Yeah, yeah, I know it doesn’t make much sense to compare eras but still…

Hypothetical time travelling theories aside, I like that Sportsnet will be showing the full series in its entirety rather than one-off games from varying seasons and eras. If you remember, the 1986-87 Oilers were voted as the NHL’s fifth-greatest team of all time and it will be fun to re-watch how the group gelled together through a series that had its share of ups and downs. We all know that the 1986 playoffs ended in a disaster for the Oilers and they came into the 1986-87 season as a motivated crew with a desperate yearning to recapture the throne and avenge the heartbreaking loss from the previous year. And if you’re a fan of offence, this team averaged a mindblowing 4.65 goals per game which led the league by nearly a full goal per game higher than the average, meaning we’re in line to see some of the best goal scorers of all time working their magic on a shift by shift basis.

The first game from this seven-part series happened at Northlands Coliseum on May 17th, 1987, and will be rebroadcast tonight at 6:00pm MT on Sportsnet. The complete schedule is below: