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Edmonton Oilers fans in Saskatoon were feeling heartbroken and dejected after their team lost to the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final for the second straight year.
After the Oilers tied the series with an incredible Game 4 win to bring the series back to Edmonton for Game 5, many thought they had a chance to win the series and bring the Stanley Cup to Canada for the first time since 1993.
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Instead, the Oilers were outclassed by the Panthers, who scored 10 goals in Games 5 and 6 to put the series away.
Fans at the Canadian Brewhouse in Saskatoon were not happy with how the series ended. Many left before the final whistle sounded because they couldn’t bear to see the Panthers lift the Stanley Cup.
“It hurts a lot,” said Oilers fan Wyatt Chowen. “I kind of want to cry, but what do you do? Just got to drink your sorrows away I guess.”
“It’s a tough series,” added Morgan Schmidt. “I think (the Oilers) need to make a goaltending change in the off season, and (Evan) Bouchard needs to learn to play defence – that’s what I think.”
“We’ll be back though,” Schmidt added.
Even though Edmonton’s second straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final ended in another loss, many fans said the Oilers still made an impressive run on hockey’s biggest stage.
“I would say I had a lot of happiness in this playoff run,” Chowen said.
“I really thought this was the year for us. It’s just disappointing that we don’t show up in the Stanley Cup Final. They didn’t look like the Edmonton Oilers in the final. We had a lot of turnovers – a lot of stupid mistakes.”
The Brewhouse was quiet after the game, but one fan was making as much noise as possible. A man by the name of Eilish was wearing his Panthers gear as he celebrated the team’s Stanley Cup win.
“The Oilers this season are better than last year’s,” Eilish said.
He admitted he’s new to the Florida bandwagon.
Eilish said he decided to support the Panthers because he’s a defender of Paul Maurice. As long as Maurice is still the head coach of the Panthers, Eilish thinks he’ll continue cheering them on.
“I think I’m staying. I haven’t decided yet, but mostly it’s because of the mistreatment he (Maurice) got when he was in Winnipeg,” Eilish said.
Oiler fans gathered up their lawn chairs with heavy hearts in Imperial, Sask., after the final buzzer sounded on Tuesday night.
The community 140 kilometres northwest of Regina, is the hometown of Edmonton’s head coach, Kris Knoblauch.
Knoblauch’s parents Bob and Holly watched the game at a party held at the local rink.
“I’m not feeling very good,” Bob said. “Two years in a row. I had higher hopes for this year.”
But despite the disappointment, Bob said the finals united the community, with people who never watched hockey before telling him they now never miss a game.
“The community got behind Kris 100 per cent, and we were all looking forward to the Stanley Cup being back in the rink here,” he said.
“There’s always next year, and I know Kris is going to be fighting hard again next year.”
Linda Van Dam, another fan watching in Imperial, said it was a sad that Edmonton couldn’t take the series to Game 7, but she will always cheer for Knoblauch’s team.
“We got his back no matter what happens,” she said. “We love Kris, and the Knoblauchs.”
–with files from 980 CJME’s Gillian Massie
