Edmonton Oilers pushing for Stanley Cup shows off the soul of a city

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Edmonton is the northernmost major city in North America. It stands alone as the only large population area in Canada more than 200 kilometres from the United States border.

That isolation brings innovation, pride and an unparalleled devotion to the Edmonton Oilers. The team has passionate and knowledgeable fans, and the city talks about the team all day, every day. The tone of the conversation varies from giddy to rage, but the team’s place in the soul of the city is never in question. The only other combination of isolation and devotion in Canadian sports is the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders and their relationship to the entire province.

That brings enormous pressure, and great opportunity.

Under pressure

Oilers teams this century have been mostly poor, with some editions of the team being so bad that securing the No. 1 selection in the draft became the expected norm.

The Oilers won 50 games in a season three times in the 1980s, winning the Stanley Cup twice during those outstanding seasons. The win total since 2000 is years of frustration, with a turn north finally coming in the shortened 2020-21 season:

*asterisk denotes shortened season, listed total extrapolates win total to 82 games

The current Oilers arrived at the 50-win mark in 2022-23, and have been all around it in recent seasons. In fact, the 2020-21 season, impacted by the pandemic, saw the team on a trajectory for 51 wins. That would have represented the third-highest total in team history.

The pressure of winning the Stanley Cup for this generation of Oilers is a massive weight on the collective shoulders of all involved. Winning it all is the goal, but there are fans who view this era of Oilers hockey as a disappointment.

More than one championship was expected by many over the last decade. Most fans blame management, but the pressure on current roster players (like Stuart Skinner) is enormous.

The season ticket base for the team includes the city of Edmonton and surrounding communities. There are many season ticket holders from Grande Prairie (450 kilometres away), Lloydminster (250 kilometres), Red Deer (154 kilometres) as well as Saskatchewan and British Columbia.

Those fans bought those tickets during the lean years and continue to have faith in the current team. On another fan level, the Oilers fan base was key in the development of analytics 20-plus years ago on various blogs of the time. There’s an entire industry devoted to Corsi, Fenwick, expected goals and the like that had its genesis with the Oilers of the Craig MacTavish coaching era (2000-09).

All of the math cannons available have pointed to Oilers management since 2015 as the biggest problem in winning it all. It’s unknown what might happen to the math fans if the Oilers win the Stanley Cup. Chances are that it will be a massive celebration, followed by someone mentioning the club needs to win more than one championship to make things right. Such is life in hockey-obsessed Edmonton.

The build

The 1980s Oilers were gifted Wayne Gretzky during the final months of the WHA, and his presence floated all roster boats for a decade. The five Stanley Cups don’t happen without the Oilers’ insistence that the Great One was untouchable during the expansion draft process.

That moment was followed by the greatest three-year draft cluster in the game’s history. Eight impact players arrived via the entry drafts 1979-81. Added to key free-agent signings (amateur players), and the die was cast in a homegrown fashion.

When Edmonton won its first Stanley Cup in 1984, there were 10 names on the Cup procured via the draft or amateur free agency: Glenn Anderson, Paul Coffey, Grant Fuhr, Randy Gregg, Charlie Huddy, Jari Kurri, Kevin Lowe, Mark Messier, Andy Moog and Jaroslav Pouzar.

The 2025 version of the Oilers doesn’t have 10 homegrown talents, but the six who are on the team pack plenty of wallop. The six players are key to the “spine” of the team, the positions up the middle of the roster.

Goaltender Stuart Skinner, defencemen Evan Bouchard and Darnell Nurse, plus centres Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins give Edmonton a massive advantage against all comers.

The past as an albatross

The last few springs for the playoff Oilers have seen fewer former Oilers from the glory years of the 1980s. There was a time when 1980s lore held sway over the team’s young players, and it led to some difficult moments when things went awry.

This version of the team seems to be past the ghosts of past glory and seeking a new “golden era” for Oilers hockey. Coffey is one of the defensive coaches, but he has helped the team’s overall defensive deployment and execution since he arrived.

Should this year’s Oilers win it all, several generations of fans will take part in the celebration. No fans deserve it more than the group who don’t quite remember the five Stanley Cup seasons, but cheered during the decade of darkness that began in the fall of 2006. The celebrations from younger fans who joined the party with the McDavid draft lottery win should be epic.

Sweet redemption

For fans, a championship would bring pride, happiness and renewed belief that the organization can build a winner.

For individual players, like McDavid and Skinner, the victory would be glorious, but also a relief. For McDavid, the pressure of winning when you’re the generational talent and a Stanley Cup is expected must be close to intolerable. For Skinner, playing in his hometown has to be an extra degree of difficulty, especially when things aren’t going well. Skinner’s splendid second period in the game Sunday afternoon against the Dallas Stars should be remembered for a long time. He was outstanding in goal for Edmonton.

Then and now

On the day Edmonton won its first Stanley Cup in 1984, the population of the city was an estimated 560,000. The community passed 1 million residents about the time the current team began pushing for 50 wins a season again.

Filling up the car was less expensive (40 cents a litre) in 1984, the “rat hole” was a daily experience if you were driving downtown. If you wanted to hit a club or hear live music, Grinders, Purple Onion, Riv Rock Room, Scandals and Sidetrack Cafe were all wildly popular. Earl’s Tin Palace was a quality late-night eating spot. It’s still there, as is the fantastic Bistro Praha downtown.

For all the changes that have taken place, from the Henday to the aesthetically pleasing Walterdale Bridge, one thing remains true of Edmonton as a city. Nothing matters like the Oilers.

(Photo of Zach Hyman: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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