SUNRISE, Fla. — Amid the elation of the Edmonton Oilers‘ 12th playoff victory, assuring his adopted city would host Stanley Cup Final games (now with actual fans!), Zach Hyman was presented with the idea that the whole of Canada would be in their corner.
“Well, I don’t know if Toronto’s cheering for us,” Hyman replied, with a knowing smile.
Born and raised in Ontario, the former Maple Leaf understands that rooting for one of the other Group of Seven to snap Canada’s ridiculous 31-year NHL championship drought is, well, complicated.
Those tuning into the Oilers’ best-of-seven versus the juggernaut Florida Panthers, which begins Saturday in Sunrise, are about to get bombarded by the statistics of the thirsty.
No Canadian club has won since the Montreal Canadiens in 1993. And while Montreal reached the final as recently as 2021, those Habs were massive underdogs and — let’s be honest — about as easy for the ’21 Tampa Bay Lightning to demolish as the salary cap.
They also played in front of a smattering of people, which was the case the last time Rogers Place hosted a Cup Final, in 2020 — a series we can only trust happened in real life, like the moon landing.
Canada’s most recent full-arena final took place 13 years ago in Vancouver, where things got so out of hand that a bunch of aghast Americans made a documentary about it.
And 18 springs have slipped by since Edmonton’s last invite to the dance and 2006’s painful Game 7 loss to the Hurricanes ravaged the land.
“It’s a great environment to play up there. They’re all into it. It’s probably the biggest thing to happen in Canada in 20 years or whatever,” says Calgary Flame–turned–Florida man Matthew Tkachuk, rounding up.
“They’ve been waiting for it for 20 years.”
Coincidentally, the Stanley Cup drought of the Panthers — established in 1993 — runs parallel to that of Canada.
The Panthers have 13 Canadians on their roster (cc: Don Cherry).
They get it.
“We’re expecting a great atmosphere. Certainly, it’s been a while,” says Florida star Sam Reinhart, who is sure to have supporters from hometown Vancouver hit the Ice District for games 3 and 4. “It’s great for the game.”
The Cats anticipate the party around this series will be wider spread than last year’s in Las Vegas, which was pandemonium around Park MGM but was diluted by bachelor parties and impromptu honeymoons by the time you hit the Cosmo.
“Well, there’s lots of people watching hockey straight into June up there, right? And it’s a big part of the fabric of life,” says Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., native Paul Maurice, former coach of the Jets and Maple Leafs.
“If it was a 40,000-seat arena, they could probably fill it for an event like this. Every city thinks they got the loudest building. They do. And theirs is going to be loud. Ours is going to be loud.”
A safe bet from someone with the privilege of visiting both locales: Edmonton’s barn will win the decibel war as easily as Gord Downie won university dorms.
A not-so-safe bet: Most Canadians, regardless of locale, prefer the Oilers to prevail over the U.S. representative now that there are only two teams to watch.
“Go to Calgary and ask: Are they cheering for the Oilers? Or are they cheering for the Panthers? Go to Tampa — I don’t think they’re cheering for the Panthers,” Maurice says.
“So, it will be electric in that town. It’s not a huge city. It’s a major city in Canada, but it’s about an 8 million (population). It’s not New York. But every single person will be wired in for their home team and be fired up. It’ll be electric.
“And that’s what you want, right? If you get to the final, you want it to be a big stage. You want it to be important. So, we’ll have two countries watching their teams play and it should be great.”
A Panthers beat reporter asked the coach where rival city Toronto — who has ex-Leafs in Edmonton (Hyman, Connor Brown, Codi Ceci) and Florida (Carter Verhaeghe) — stands.
Maurice simply smiled and said he had enough to worry about with the cities still playing hockey.
Brandon Montour is from Brantford, Ont. He played for three years in Canadian border town Buffalo.
“Obviously, they want their teams to be where Edmonton is. Canadian market — they’re gonna have their whole country behind them. Excited. It’s going to be loud,” Montour says.
“We got a pretty good state that’s excited we’re back here, too.”
Finland’s Anton Lundell expects Edmonton to be noisy, naturally, but swiftly mentions the jacked-up atmospheres in Boston (Round 2) and New York (Round 3).
“I don’t know if it can get louder,” Lundell says. “Even here in Sunrise, you can’t even hear your own voice sometimes.”
Memo to young, naive Lundell: The more north you fly, the higher the volume.
Toronto-born game-breaker Verhaeghe has nothing but fond memories of the City of Champions, having hoisted the Cup with the 2020 Lightning after an excruciating/ecstatic month in the bubble. Verhaeghe’s dad, Thomas, the man who introduced him to hockey and fueled his dream, was one of the few inside in Rogers Place that night.
“It’s going to be nuts. They’re really passionate about their hockey up there,” Verhaeghe says. “I expect nothing but the best atmosphere.”
Giddy yap.
“Feels like we haven’t been to Canada in forever here,” says American Tkachuk, whose Panthers haven’t visited Edmonton in 175 days.
“So, get the passports ready.”