‘They always show up for us:’ Edmonton erupts as Oilers advance to Stanley Cup Finals
By Sam Nestler
1 month agoAs the Edmonton Oilers knocked off the Dallas Stars in Game 6 on Sunday, the passion and energy of their fans could be heard all over the city and the hockey world.
Edmonton won the Western Conference Finals 4-2 and advanced to its first Stanley Cup Final in 18 years. And could you ever feel that build-up, tension, stress and all of those playoff letdowns explode into pandemonium inside Rogers Place at the final horn?
Re-live and enjoy the final minute with Oilers play-by-play announcer Jack Michaels:
The ‘Moss Pit’ outside of the arena, which has been featured throughout the playoff run, turned into a mass of Oilers fans hugging each other and jumping around as Connor McDavid and Edmonton exhaled and celebrated reaching a step they had not yet accomplished.
“When the puck went out there and it was two seconds left, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a louder building in my career,” said Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm after Game 6. “It’s just awesome. You see the fans, you see everybody staying after to really soak in the moment, and hopefully we got more in store for them here. They’ve been awesome all playoffs, all year. They always show up for us, so we definitely fed off the crowd tonight.”
Chants of ‘We want the Cup’ could be heard inside the arena, in the pit and all over the city. How loud were they? Well, just take a listen to Stars coach Pete DeBoer trying to answer questions in his postgame press conference. Keep in mind, these press conferences take place at the dressing-room lower level of the arena with plenty of concrete separating them from the game sheet.
“Whatever atmosphere you think you’ve been in that’s incredible, crazy, and special – it’s going to get trumped all day long if you come up here to Edmonton,” Oilers forward Evander Kane said on the “Pat McAfee Show” last month.
But the celebration was far from over.
As the Oilers players and coach Kris Knoblauch made their way into their own postgame press conferences, fans continued to make themselves heard. This time, from outside the arena:
We saw lines and lines of cars driving by Rogers Place, honking their horns hours after the game had ended, fans crying overwhelming tears of joy after so many years of disappointment and the entire city of Edmonton coming together.
This was a huge moment not just for Edmonton but for all of Canada. The entire nation has waited over thirty years since the last time a Canadian team lifted the Stanley Cup when the Montreal Canadiens did so in 1993. The Oilers now have a chance to do exactly that in the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers.
One thing is certain: the atmosphere in the city of Edmonton is going to electric.
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