Oilers vs Panthers: Why this could be the most important hockey finals for Canadians in years
When Canadians question who they are, the answer is hockey.
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'It's probably the No. 1 signifier of being Canadian,' said Jason Wilson, who teaches a course about hockey in Canadian history at the University of Guelph. 'Not just for Canadians, but for people around the world.'
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Last year, more than half of Canada was cheering for the Edmonton Oilers to beat the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup finals. An Ipsos-Reid poll in June of 2024 showed 57 per cent of Canadians wanted to see the Oilers win the cup, versus just nine per cent backing the Panthers.
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This year, with U.S. President Donald Trump's talk of turning Canada into the 51st state still burning, expect those numbers to be even further apart, said Wilson.
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'It could be the most important playoff series for Canadians in a very long time,' said Wilson, co-author of Lord Stanley: The Man Behind the Cup.
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'The overriding majority will feel like that it's back to Canada versus America,' said Wilson. 'For the first time in a very long time we have an adversary in the White House. Someone that is literally testing our sovereignty and our own sense of who we are.'
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Due to the political tensions between Canada and our closest neighbour, 'this series will take on a larger-than-life (aspect) almost as exciting, we hope, as the Connor McDavid goal in the Four Nations Cup,' he said.
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According to Wilson, McDavid's overtime goal to take that series this past winter 'became the most important goal since at least' Sidney Crosby's goal in 2010 at the Vancouver Olympics that secured Canada's gold medal against the United States, and 'possibly even' Paul Henderson goal against Russia to take the 1972 Summit Series for Canada.
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While the Four Nations Cup was 'squarely Canada versus America, we do have some of the same cast of characters,' Wilson said, pointing to the Oilers' McDavid on one side and Panthers' star forward Matthew Tkachuk on the other.
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'Florida, for better or for worse, they're a very nasty team that way,' he said. 'It's obviously effective. This is their third time in the final in three years. That said, Edmonton has the edge in other ways – in mobility and speed. So, does Florida want to gamble that right off the top?'
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'They're very much a hockey nation, too. It's obviously not their No. 1 sport, and Florida might not be the most obvious market, but make no mistake, the Americans are invested in this as well. Whether that will be a regional thing for these particular playoffs (in Florida) compared to a national thing in Canada, that's open to question of course,' he said.
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