The Bertrand family had plans to go to Mexico for an April vacation, but that changed when Cole and Logan saw the Edmonton Oilers would be facing the Los Angeles Kings in the playoffs.
“(We) convinced mom not to go to Mexico and rather, go cheer the team on,” said Logan.
“I’m most excited to be cheering on our team in a different arena,” said Cole.
“It’s gonna be awesome — gonna make some new enemies, maybe, in L.A.,” added Logan.
“I’m hoping we’ll sit next to some. Hopefully I don’t get in a fight.”
Logan said he’s hoping to run into some fellow Oilers fans — something that the president of the Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG) said is likely.
Stew MacDonald said he has heard from many fans looking to head south to cheer on the team.
“The one thing we know about Oilers fans, especially when it gets to the playoff time, distance is kind of irrelevant to them,” he said.
WestJet confirmed all its direct flights from Edmonton to Los Angeles are virtually sold out for Thursday and Friday, and in the last week bookings for flights to LAX with a Calgary layover are up 60 per cent.
Not only are Edmontonians willing to travel to support the team, but fans from all over the country are descending on Rogers Place for playoffs, MacDonald said.
“We have some that reside outside of the prairies (who will) fly in for a few games a year – we’re usually seeing those folks at playoff time as well.”
A girl with an amazing record of philanthropy was gifted a trip to see the game by the Ben Stelter Fund.
“This is going to be so much fun, the girls are really excited,” said Cathy Eklund, mother of Cecily and Norah.
Cecily has fundraised nearly $100,000 for kids with cancer after she was diagnosed with brain cancer four years ago. She reached her goal of raising $30,000 for the Ben Stelter Fund for her 10th birthday last month.
“Cecily raises a lot for the Ben Stelter Fund just because she wanted Magical Experiences for other children,” said Eklund.
“We never did it with the expectation to have an experience ourselves, so this is honestly just such a blessing.”
The girls didn’t even find out until the day before the trip, said Eklund.
“I was really excited,” said Cecily, sporting a jean jacket with Evander Kane’s name and number.
And Eklund said there may be some other fun times awaiting them in Los Angeles.
“I think there’s going to be some amazing surprises happening,” mom grinned.
Game three is Friday in Los Angeles (630 CHED, Face-off Show at 6 p.m., game at 8 p.m.).