Sarah Mills: There's nothing like the collective joy we get from sports
With the Edmonton Oilers up one game in the Stanley Cup Final, Sarah Mills says there's something very special about the...
Edmonton Oilers fans left the Canadian Brewhouse in Saskatoon happy on Wednesday night, after Leon Draisaitl scored in overtime to give the Oilers a 4-3 win and a 1-0 lead over the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final.
“It felt really good,” fan Cory Hill said after the Oilers won in overtime. “I felt like they were being a little bit outplayed, but they came back and won and I’m happy it didn’t go to the second O.T.”
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“It was amazing,” said Garrett Anderson. “Draisaitl had an awesome game. I knew that penalty was going to kill Florida at the end there, so that was great.”
Every table at the Brewhouse was full during the game on Wednesday night as fans watched the Oilers play in their second consecutive Stanley Cup Final. General manager Mitch Fischer said Canadian teams in the playoffs mean big business for his already popular sports bar.
“This is our bread and butter of a sports bar. This is what brings people out – especially in the summer months when there’s tons of other stuff going on,” Fischer explained.
“We probably see an increase of 25 per cent in hockey day reservations when there’s a Canadian team in (the playoffs). The Stanley Cup playoffs in general bring more people out, but Canadian teams definitely push that,” Fischer added.
The series schedule set out by the NHL for the Stanley Cup Final should help bars bring in even more business, as most of the games are at the end of the week or on a weekend.
Fischer said he only expects his bar get busier as the series continues.
“Standing room only, probably, if it gets to Game 7 like last year,” he said.
The Oilers and Panthers will face off again on Friday night at 6 p.m. in Edmonton.
Catherine Desrosidrs said she’s been an Oilers fans since the day she was born, and she’s confident the team can bring the Stanley Cup home to Canada.
“They’ve been playing pretty good this year,” Desrosidrs said.
“I feel like they have picked up more of that fire. The people that are saying they’re older and not good enough to play are just wrong.”
Jeff Martin was rooting on his Oilers on Wednesday night, and said he’s confident they’ll be able to keep their run going.
“It’s been up and down. There’s been some really trying moments for the Oilers. When they fell apart a couple times. You’re thinking ‘I don’t know if they’re going to come back,’ but every time they’ve shown resiliency, heart, grit and they keep coming,” Martin said.
