When the Edmonton Oilers stole a home-ice victory from the Golden Knights in Las Vegas over the weekend, some lucky Oilers fans also stole a 50/50 lottery prize from Golden Knights fans — or more accurately, a 51/49 prize (Golden Knights’ draws see winners gets 51 per cent of the lottery revenues and charity get 49 per cent).
Rod Rousseau, of Calgary, who split a $70,680 USD jackpot with a couple who is from Alberta’s capital, says the lottery win, combined with the electrifying atmosphere brought by thousands of Oilers fans who went to the game and the team’s 3-2 win in overtime, led to him and his friends enjoying a Sin City celebration like no other.
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Rousseau will be splitting the 51/49 prize with Julio Rojo and Cassie Leggio, family friends from Edmonton whom he ran into at the game before spontaneously deciding to get 51/49 tickets with.
“They had us on display taking pictures and reams and reams and reams of Oilers fans were passing by hollering and yelling at the people coming up to take pictures with us, so it was pretty surreal.”
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On Jan. 12, 2018, Vinesh Pratap filed this report before the Edmonton Oilers visited the newest expansion team in the NHL for the first time.
Rousseau said amid the chaos of finding out he won and meeting with Golden Knights staff to claim his prize, he was left in the dark for some time about what transpired during overtime in the game.
“The eruption of the crowd was just unbelievable… I was sure that the Golden Knights won because it was so loud,” he said.
“Twenty minutes after, in the melee, I found out it was in fact the Oilers that won it,” he added with a chuckle.
“The game was unbelievable in terms of noise from Oilers fans — I think 60 to 80 per cent of the stadium, which was sold out, was Oilers jerseys and Oilers faithful.”
Despite the massive lottery win, Rousseau said he isn’t counting on the money until he actually has it in his hands. The Vegas Golden Knights Foundation told him they’ll send a real check to the winners in a couple of months when all the paperwork is cleared up.
“It’s my first experience with a foreign country sending money across the border, so we’ll see,” Rousseau said.
If and when the money does come through, Rousseau said he plans to throw a large party in the summer to celebrate it.
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