The Edmonton Oilers are... America's team?
Sunrise, Fla. — Sonya Gabriel grew up in Alberta. but she has called Florida home for the past 25 years.
Article content
Wearing 1990s-era copper and blue Oilers' throwback jerseys, Gabriel and her husband, Sam, walked towards Amerant Bank Arena ahead of the faceoff of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Article content
Article content
Article content
'I've really been getting into it,' he said.
Article content
'We'll see about Game 4,' said Sonya. 'We'll see how they do tonight.'
Article content
Article content
Jay McIntyre and his son, Kyle, are rabid hockey fans from Philadelphia.
Article content
'We're every NHL team's fan,' said Jay (Just not the Flyers or Panthers, it seems). 'We've actually been to 23 venues. We were actually going to go to Rogers Place this year, but we couldn't make it.'
Article content
'Watching games that come from there, they just look so cool,' said Kyle.
Article content
Article content
Getting to Edmonton is task No.1 left on their hockey bucket list, though.
Article content
'I want to see McDavid lift the Cup for the first time,' said Kyle. 'The Panthers have already won it last year, so I'm, like, meh. It's somebody else's turn.'
Article content
'I wanted to see them win last year,' said Jay. 'But I'm here to watch them this year.'
Article content
She became an Oilers fan in 1987, during the Rendez-Vous series, which saw an NHL All-Star Team face the Soviet national side.
Article content
'A friend of mine was already a hockey fan, and she asked me, 'Pick your player,'' Shively said. 'So I picked my player, and it was Mark Messier. So, the next day, I looked in the paper to see who he played for.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Ottawa Citizen
26 minutes ago
- Ottawa Citizen
Are Edmonton Oilers watch parties really one of the worst things going? As if
Move over, Moss Pit. Article content The Edmonton Oilers might be one of the two best teams this year, but apparently, the experience of watching doesn't quite live up to expectations. Article content Article content If you aren't one of the 18,347 lucky spectators in the stands for a game, but do the next best thing and gather among fellow fans for the watch parties surrounding Rogers Place, a new study suggests Edmontonians will be getting a subpar experience in next year's playoffs. Article content Article content Some outfit called Time2play analyzed what they determined to be the key elements that 'make an NHL watch party fun,' and ranked all 32 NHL teams based on fan engagement, local food and drink options, best weather and overall hype. Article content Article content And guess what, Edmonton. The results aren't great. Article content This city wouldn't even make the playoff cut among the top half of teams. No, the Alberta capital appears all the way down in the bottom 10 of the rankings. Article content But, hey, it calls itself a study. And even uses words such as 'methodology,' and 'metrics.' And it has a press release and everything. So, let's give it a chance here (after we remove tongue from cheek, that is). Article content 'To create the NHL watch party index, the study analyzed a range of fan experience metrics, including average attendance, arena Google reviews, surrounding food and drink ratings, average local temperatures, fan hype around watch parties (search trends for each team's watch parties and playoff drought length) to capture the sense of anticipation,' the study states. Article content Article content Article content So far, it sounds about as convincing as your typical dirt-lot used car salesman. Maybe let's just jump to the conclusion. Article content Article content 'According to the results, Edmonton Oilers fans came 27th in the rankings, scoring 23.9 out of 100, coming close to landing the title for worst watch party.' Article content Alright, let's take a look at the list and see what fans are better: Article content 1. Tampa Bay Lightning (62.5) 2. Washington Capitals (53.8) 3. Buffalo Sabres (52.7) 4. Anaheim Ducks (52.1) 5. Detroit Red Wings (47.1) 6. Columbus Blue Jackets (46.5) 7. Chicago Blackhawks (46.4) 8. Philadelphia Flyers (45.7) 9. New York Rangers (39.3) 10. Dallas Stars (38.9) 11. Nashville Predators (38.6) 12. Pittsburgh Penguins (38.4) 13. Seattle Kraken (37.9) 14. San Jose Sharks (36.2) 15. Florida Panthers (35.6) 16. Los Angeles Kings (33.3) 17. Vegas Golden Knights (33.0) 18. Vancouver Canucks (32.8) 19. Minnesota Wild (32.7) 20. Calgary Flames (30.4) 21. Boston Bruins (29.2) 22. Toronto Maple Leafs (28.3) 23. Colorado Avalanche (28.2) 24. Montreal Canadiens (25.7) 25. New Jersey Devils (25.4) 26. St. Louis Blues (25.4) 27. Edmonton Oilers (23.9) 28. Carolina Hurricanes (23.4) 29. Utah Mammoth (23.4) 30. Winnipeg Jets (22.6) 31. New York Islanders (22.3) 32. Ottawa Senators (18.2)
CTV News
28 minutes ago
- CTV News
Oilers collapse, Panthers dominate in Stanley Cup Game 3
Florida Panthers center Sam Reinhart (13) hits a shot by Edmonton Oilers left wing Evander Kane (91) away from the goal during the third period of Game 3 of the NHL Stanley Cup final Monday, June 9, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. Unlike the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final, which ended in overtime, the third game was a one-sided affair. This time, the Florida Panthers easily defeated the Edmonton Oilers 6-1 on Monday at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Fla., taking a 2-1 series lead. Brad Marchand, Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad and Evan Rodrigues scored for the Panthers. Eetu Luostarinen had two assists, while goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves. Corey Perry responded for the Oilers. Stuart Skinner stopped 18 of 23 shots before being replaced by Calvin Pickard, who stopped seven of eight shots. Game 4 of the final will take place Thursday night in Sunrise. Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett (9) scores a goal against Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner (74) during the second period of Game 3 of the NHL Stanley Cup final Monday, June 9, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett (9) scores a goal against Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner (74) during the second period of Game 3 of the NHL Stanley Cup final Monday, June 9, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Oilers lose their cool Game 3 began much like Game 2 ended: with a goal from Marchand. After just 56 seconds, the Panthers' forward took advantage of the confusion in front of the Oilers' net to beat Skinner with a wrist shot. The first period then saw a succession of power plays, and it was the Panthers who ultimately took advantage. On the seventh power play of the first period – the Panthers' fourth – Verhaeghe fired a perfect shot into the top corner from the near side. The Oilers started the second period with the man advantage and took advantage. Evan Bouchard fired a pass-and-go that found Perry in front of the net, who simply had to lift the puck over Bobrovsky's pad. The Panthers, however, responded twice in the following minutes. Florida Panthers centre Sam Reinhart (13) skates to the bench after scoring a goal during the second period of Game 3 of the NHL Stanley Cup final against the Edmonton Oilers Monday, June 9, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Florida Panthers centre Sam Reinhart (13) skates to the bench after scoring a goal during the second period of Game 3 of the NHL Stanley Cup final against the Edmonton Oilers Monday, June 9, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Reinhart first took advantage of a John Klingberg turnover in the defensive zone to beat Skinner with a wrist shot from the near side, then Bennett broke free and easily beat the Oilers goaltender with a fake. At 3:27 of the third period, Ekblad completed a perfect passing play started by Matthew Tkachuk and Reinhart on the power play to make it 5-1. Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch then removed Skinner from the game in favor of Pickard. The Oilers then lost their cool, attempting to injure several Panthers players with punches and sticks. The result: The Panthers had several power plays, and they finally took advantage with 3:50 left in the game. Rodrigues beat Pickard with a powerful one-timer.
Global News
31 minutes ago
- Global News
Panthers rout Oilers 6-1 to take 2-1 lead in Stanley Cup final
Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett scored again, Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe each got their first goal in the Stanley Cup final, and the defending champion Florida Panthers capitalized on the Edmonton Oilers' worst performance in weeks to win Game 3 in a 6-1 rout Monday night. The Panthers lead the best-of-seven series 2-1. Marchand became the oldest player to score in each of the first three games of a final and the first to open the scoring the next time out after notching an overtime winner. His 11 goals in the final are the most among active players, one more than similarly ageless Corey Perry. Bennett added his NHL playoff-leading 14th goal, just the second at home, after making a big hit on Edmonton's Vasily Podkolzin that contributed to the turnover to spring him on a breakaway. Marchand and Bennett have combined to score eight of Florida's 13 goals in the series. Story continues below advertisement But it was not just them this time. Verhaeghe buried a perfect shot into the net under the cross bar on the power play, Reinhart made up for missing the net on an earlier attempt, Aaron Ekblad scored to chase Stuart Skinner on the fifth goal on 23 shots and Evan Rodrigues added the exclamation point in the waning minutes. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy At the other end of the ice, Sergei Bobrovsky earned the 'Bobby! Bobby!' chants from a fired up Florida crowd. The two-time Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender known as 'Bob' was on his game for the very few quality chances the discombobulated Oilers mustered, making 32 saves. Perry — at 40 the oldest player in the series — beat Bobrovsky with some silky hands for a power-play goal, keeping up this final being a showcase of cagey veterans along with Marchand. Connor McDavid could not get his team on track, and Edmonton took 15 minors — led by Evander Kane's three plus a misconduct to add up to 85 penalty minutes — including a brawl that ensued with less than 10 minutes left. Trent Frederic and Darnell Nurse, who fought Jonah Gadjovich, got misconducts that knocked them out of a game with an outcome determined long before. After the final looked as evenly matched as can be with Games 1 and 2 each needing extra time, overtime and then double OT, Game 3 was a lopsided mismatch. The Oilers came unglued to the point Jake Walman resorted to squirting water on Panthers players on their bench from his spot on the visiting side. Story continues below advertisement The teams have some extra time off before Game 4 on Thursday, when the Panthers have the chance to take a 3-1 lead.
