Hockey fans in Edmonton, and far, far away, count down hours until Stanley Cup final

EDMONTON — Hockey fans in Edmonton, and many who are far, far away, are counting down the hours until the Oilers hit the ice this weekend for the beginning of their first Stanley Cup final series in nearly two decades.

Edmonton has been in party mode since the playoffs began April, and on Sunday night they beat the Dallas Stars to clinch a Cup berth.

After the win, Oilers fans in the Northwest Territories celebrated under the midnight sun with a cavalcade of 50 or more cars, trucks and ATVs driving up and down the gravel streets of Inuvik.

Game 1 of the best-of-seven series against the Florida Panthers goes Saturday in Sunrise, Florida.

The Oilers were Canada’s last hockey dynasty, winning four Cups in the 1980s followed by a fifth in 1990, but it’s their first trip back to the Stanley Cup final since losing in seven games to the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006.

The last time the Oilers won the Cup, the Florida Panthers did not yet exist.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 4, 2024.

The Canadian Press