Ask any Oilers fan about the 2005-06 season, and you’ll quickly find yourself caught in a story similar to the one Grandpa Simpson gave in The Simpsons episode Lemon of Troy.
While Abe talked about the heroes of Springfield, who helped triumphantly return a lemon tree to its naive soil, Oilers fans will tell you the story of a team that made waves en route to the Stanley Cup Finals.
As it turns out, that team didn’t captivate just fans in Alberta, but instead, fans of the sport across the country.
After eliminating the Dallas Stars last Sunday night in Game 6, punching their ticket to the finals, winger Zach Hyman spoke about how he vividly remembers watching those Oilers.
“I was doing an interview after, I couldn’t hear the questions it was so loud,” said Hyman. “This is one of the reasons I wanted to come here.
“I remember as a kid watching Edmonton-Carolina, and my brothers and I were like ‘This building is crazy. It’s the loudest building we’ve ever seen on TV.’ And I vividly remember talking to my brother Spence about it when we signed. Like ‘Man, I hope we get an opportunity to go to the Stanley Cup final in front of these fans’ and it was crazy loud for Game 6, the close-out game.
“I expect it to be bonkers. This is why you come to a market like this, to play in front of fans like this. This is what you dream of.”
It didn’t take long for Hyman to become a fan favourite in Edmonton upon his arrival in 2021 in thanks to his relentless work ethic on the ice. He exemplifies everything Oilers fans love in a player, and he’s seen big improvements in his game each season, despite now being 31 years old. It’s not an age where you typically see a player getting better, but Hyman is an outlier in that sense.
Fans don’t just love him for his on-ice play, though, as he’s very well-spoken and comments like these are just one that continue to grow his legend in the city of Edmonton.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.
