Sunday night did not end the way Oilers fans wanted as they watched their Stanley Cup dreams come to an end at the hands of the Las Vegas Golden Knights.
“It’s really unfortunate,” said Kyra Gehring, who watched the game in Edmonton. “We had a pretty good season, so it just kind of sucks.”
“It sucks for sure,” Hudson Felske added. “We did good throughout the whole season until now.”
The Edmonton Oilers’ season ended Sunday at Rogers Place with a 5-2 loss to the Golden Knights.Vegas won the best-of-seven 4-2 and will go on to play either Dallas or Seattle, which heads to a Game 7 on Monday night, in the Western Conference Final.This is the fourth time Vegas has reached the semifinal round in the franchise’s six-year history.
“I’m pretty sad,” Oilers fan Callum Campbell said. “Coming to the watch parties is the only thing I had. Edmonton is all I have and now that they’re out, it’s going to be tough.”
There was a certain energy created in the city by the playoff excitement, Campbell said.
“There were some ups,” he said. “It was a good season but we didn’t bring the cup home and that’s what we wanted.”
“It’s super upsetting,” said Haley Mandrusiak, “but I feel like we had a really great season. I think we just went out there and unfortunately just lost it in the end.”
She’s also been buoyed by the excitement the playoff run brought to the city.
“It’s really cool to see everyone come together. In times like this, I feel like it brings the community, the province, together. It’s a really sad loss.
“But I think tomorrow we’re going to wake up and we’re just going to be waiting for next year,” Mandrusiak said.
Adam Cayer, the owner/operator of Average Joes Sports Bar in Sherwood Park, says nothing compares to Oilers playoff hockey.
“NFL football for us is big. Oilers playoff hockey takes that to another level.
“It’s been electric. The playoffs are always something that means so much to us here in Edmonton. To have a team we can get behind, a team with the two best players on the planet, everybody just wants to come out and support.
“It’s been fantastic and it’s sad it’s over.”
Cayer said his restaurant had a hiring spree right before the playoffs to help meet demand.
“Probably like all of Edmonton, I was thinking: ‘These guys are winning the cup this year.’ And they have the team to do it and the potential to do it.
“Now our ramp up with food purchasing and liquor purchasing, that’s going to come down,” he said.
“Now that it’s over, we’ve got a little bit of a gap to fill.
“It’s going to scale back some things, purchasing is a little bit less because volume is not going to be there every second night. You do what you’ve got to do.”
The outdoor patio upgrade last year proved to be a good investment.
“The addition of the TVs for the last playoff run … and the beautiful weather we’ve been having is fortunate,” Cayer said. “We stayed open a little later, we haven’t had to crank out all the heaters.
“Having a lot of fun.”
The Oilers fell short of returning to the conference final for the second straight year after losing to eventual Stanley Cup champion Colorado a year ago.
Edmonton’s loss officially extended the drought for a Canadian team winning the Cup to 30 years since Montreal won in 1993.
With a file from The Canadian Press
Comments