What Oilers fans are really cheering about

With my two hockey teams, Calgary and Montreal, out of the playoffs in the first round, and the Senators bowing out to the Sabres in 5 games in the second round, I am reduced to cheering for a team I have traditionally loathed, the Edmonton Oilers.

For much of the late 90s and early 00s, both teams were pretty pathetic, and the "battle of Alberta" was a pale imitation of the historic rivalry. In the 80s, however, it was a different story altogether. As a kid growing up in Calgary, I experienced the Flames/Oilers rivalry as an intense, visceral part of every hockey season, and it only got crazier during the playoffs. Back then, both cities had hard-working, talented teams, and the games were hard fought, and the fans were raucous. I remember the night the Flames beat the Oilers in the 86 playoffs. After the game was over, I opened my window and there was a cheer rising from the city. It was as if every person in Calgary was on the streets yelling at the top of their lungs. Perhaps they were. Calgary fans proved their ardor once again during the 2003–04 playoffs, with seemingly every car in the city sporting a Flames flag, and the "Red Mile" awash with people after every game. Sadly for Flames fans, as we know, it all came for naught.

Tonight, with the 2–0 victory of the Edmonton Oilers over the San Jose Sharks, the Oilers move on to the Conference final. As the eighth seed in the West, their run thus far--knocking off the mighty Redwings and the Sharks successively in 6 games--is as improbable as the Flames' playoffs in 2004. Now that the Oilers are the only Canadian team left in the Stanley Cup playoff race, they have become, by default, "Canada's team," just as the Flames were the national team two years ago.

Edmonton fans are making the most of their chance to prove that their voices are just as loud as their Calgarian counterparts (and indeed, no doubt relishing in the fact that the Flames were knocked out early). Watching the game this evening on television, I was impressed by the Oilers fans. They were loud--deafening by the sound of it--and unconditionally supportive. And by all accounts, the atmosphere on the streets of Edmonton is just as party-like this spring as it was two years ago in Calgary.

I, for one, hope they go all the way. I would be happy to see the Oilers win the Stanley Cup just to have it come back to Canada, even if that particular joy would be tinged with the regret of what might have been two years ago.

I can't help but feel, however, that the while Oilers fans are thrilled to see their team doing well, they're even more overjoyed to see Flames fans cheering for them too, just as Oilers fans were forced to cheer for Calgary in 2004. I'm sure that little piece of revenge tastes mighty sweet.

Go Oilers.