Edmonton Oilers fans haven’t been getting a lot of sleep lately but they’re not too worried, as long as the team keeps winning.
Uber driver Lucy Kapelsky had a late night on Thursday and it wasn’t because she was watching the Oilers playoff game against the San Jose Sharks, it’s because she was working it.
As the game went into overtime, business ground to a halt – with all eyes on the screens, the streets were empty.
“I was sitting there waiting for that last goal to happen and it was just dead. I wasn’t moving at all. I was sitting there just parked. Usually it’s go, go, go with Uber.”
But when Oilers forward David Desharnais scored with just a few minutes left in the first overtime period, Kapelsky’s phone suddenly started to light up.
READ MORE: Desharnais delights Oilers fans with OT winner in Game 5 against the Sharks
“Being in the playoffs has definitely increased our business substantially. It’s big money,” she explained. “We were hopping for about three hours straight. It was awesome!”
Kapelsky said before she could drop one group off, she was already getting information on another waiting for pickup.
“To the different clubs, home after a party – just getting them safely home after the game. They’ve had quite a few drinks after celebrating that win.”
At 3 a.m., she finally had to call it quits, knowing she needed to be awake four hours later to get her kids rolling to school.
NAIT student Dustin Giroux was also lacking in the sleep department Friday morning.
“After the game ended, it took a little while for the excitement to die down, so I probably fell asleep around 1:30 a.m. finally,” he said. “Six a.m. comes pretty early but a few coffees gets me through it.”
Giroux, who runs an Oilers fan group online, isn’t a fan of the late puck drops.
“I don’t like it. It would be nice if it was earlier but I get why they’re doing it. They’re trying to get as many games in so people can watch them all. So I get it, but it is what it is. I’ll watch no matter what because it’s the Oilers, right?”
But it could be worse. In Liverpool, U.K., transplanted Edmontonian David Stobie has to get up in the middle of the night to watch his favourite team.
“I didn’t really sleep since three o’clock in the morning because I had to go back to work at 8:45 and the game was over at seven in the morning. I’ve been up since then,” he said.
“It’s Hockey Morning in the U.K. not Hockey Night in Canada!”
There’s no way he would miss the games though. He purchased an NHL online pass to be able to stream high-quality version of the games without blackouts.
“It’s in my blood, you know? The Oilers!”
Stobie said he had to have a few cans of Red Bull to stay awake.
“It’s been tough! I bet a lot of Edmontonians feel the same way,” he said. “But it is worth it. It is worth it!”
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