Drivers headed up the QEII may have noticed something new at the “Welcome to Edmonton” sign, but in fact, the playoff addition showed up last year.
A sign bearing the words “Play La Bamba, Baby” now sits where the “City of Champions” slogan greeted drivers for years.
The new sign was created by Edmonton resident Alex Lakusta, after a friend made a mockup when the Edmonton Oilers ousted the Calgary Flames in the 2022 Battle of Alberta.
“He did a Photoshop of, basically, exactly this,” Lakusta said, motioning to the eight-foot-long wood sign. “I’ve made City of Champions signs that were similar in the past.
“I thought to myself, if there’s ever a time, let’s do it now when they’re going into the Western Conference final.”
Lakusta said he was inspired by young, cancer-stricken Oilers superfan Ben Stelter and longtime locker room attendant Joey Moss.
The Oilers pledged before the start of the 2021-22 season they would play the song La Bamba after every win at Rogers Place in honour of Moss.
Ben, who turned six last spring when the Oilers were in the throes of that Stanley Cup playoff season, became known for telling the team to “Play La Bamba, baby!” and became a household name in Edmonton and beyond.
A huge Oilers fan, Ben’s dream was to meet Connor McDavid. Dressed in an Oilers jersey and McDavid socks, that dream came true last winter as Ben skated to centre ice with his hero for the anthems.
“I just love how the city embraced all of that. Everything to do with Ben, with his journey and and how the team, the city and the fans all have gathered around as a rally cry, ‘Play La Bamba, Baby.'”
When the Oilers were eliminated from the playoffs last year, Lakusta went out the following morning to collect his creation — but it was gone.
“I didn’t come out that night. I was pretty bummed. But I came out the next morning and the sign was gone and there was a fresh flower bed planted here.”
Lakusta assumed another fan snagged the sign and it was living in their basement. But he said the flower bed struck him as odd. He figured the sign was gone forever until on Tuesday, when he heard it had been returned.
“All of a sudden it popped back up on my Facebook yesterday and some radio station had shared it was back.
“I could tell that it was definitely the exact same sign. It wasn’t a copycat.”
He eventually found out it wasn’t a random fan who took the sign — rather, it ended up with the City of Edmonton.
“Somebody reached out and said that it was kept safe and sound in one of the city maintenance yards. And there were a few people who said they saw city trucks over here installing that,” Lakusta said.
“That made the new flower bed make a whole lot of sense that morning, when I thought that it had gone missing.”
He said he was even sent a photo of the sign in the city yard.
“It was well taken care of. Apparently, they were holding on to it, keeping it safe for me,” he said.
“It was in a place of honour in this maintenance yard.”
With the Oilers one game away from eliminating the Los Angeles Kings and moving on to the second round of the playoffs, Lakusta is proud to be a part of the excitement gripping the city — especially since the sign wasn’t up for very long the first time around.
“Last year, it didn’t get a whole lot of attention. It was only up for maybe a week. And then this year, you know, we’re doing interviews.”
At the time, Ben Stelter was still alive. He died last August from glioblastoma — an aggressive type of brain cancer.
Now, a fund in his memory is helping other sick kids take in Oilers games. Lakusta said he always hoped the sign would show up again so some good could come of it.
“I just kind of always hoped that it would return so that we could maybe donate it and have some good come of it.”
The homemade sign has been sitting outside in the Alberta sun and snow for a year, and Lakusta said up close, it’s starting to show its age.
“It’s seen some better days. So I may just make them a new a new sign for that purpose,” he said of donating the sign to the Ben Stelter Fund or another charity that could benefit.
Lakusta confesses he is not a professional woodworker — just a hobbyist who has a passion for Edmonton.
“It’s just a big 2×12 — a big old single piece of lumber. I made a template, just printed it off and traced it out on the piece of wood and took a router to it.
“Admittedly — maybe it’s just me as the craftsman — it’s looking a little rough. But from the road, I’m sure it looks it looks just great.”
A commanding 6-3 win over the visiting Kings from Tuesday’s Game 5 at Rogers Place gave Edmonton its first lead of the best-of-seven, first-round series.
The Oilers have a chance to eliminate the Kings on Saturday in Los Angeles. A Game 7, if necessary, would be played Monday in Edmonton.
Lakusta hopes the team sees the sign when it drives up the highway from the airport after Game 6.
“Maybe their bus will see it when they come back from L.A. — you know, getting ready for the second round,” he said with a smile.
The unofficial “City of Champions” slogan was originally coined in 1984 to promote Edmonton but took on a new meaning when disaster struck.
When the Black Friday tornado hit in 1987, then-mayor Laurence Decore made it Edmonton’s official slogan after seeing the community’s response to the deadly twister.
That was also during the glory days of the Edmonton Oilers and then-Edmonton Eskimos winning multiple Stanley and Grey Cups, and the term was colloquially adopted as a catch-all phrase for greatness in Edmonton.
In April 2015, city council voted to remove the “City of Champions” slogan from the city’s “Welcome to Edmonton” signs as a way to refresh the city’s brand.
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