Excitement is in the air for Edmonton Oilers fans near and far as the boys in blue and orange head into the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers on Saturday.
CTV News Edmonton spoke with a few fans cheering outside of Edmonton who all have one thing in common: their love for the Oilers.
Sacha Nogasak is from Inuvik, N.W.T., and he’s been an Oilers fan since 2019.
Nogasak credits his wife for turning him into an Oilers fan as the two bonded over watching hockey games, eventually choosing a team to cheer on.
After Game 6 against the Dallas Stars, Nogasak helped spread some Oilers cheer up north by participating in a 30-vehicle convoy showing support for the hockey team.
“Everybody joined in the convoy and we started driving all around town honking our horns and just yelling out the window. Of course, everyone was playing ‘La Bamba,'” Nogasak said.
Christian Hingst and Nils Jacob are a pair of fans from Dresden, Germany who created the podcast Oilers Nation Germany in 2021.
Jacob told CTV News Edmonton that the pair were in Edmonton in March 2020 to speak with the Edmonton chapter of Oilers Nation before the pandemic forced them back home.
“When COVID hit we had a lot of time on our hands. We sat together and we talked about the possibility of doing podcasts,” Jacob said.
Hingst became a fan of the Oilers in 2006 during the last major playoff run noting that at the time he “didn’t have a favorite team” until he saw what the Oilers fandom looked like.
“This atmosphere, this oil rig, the underdog role that I loved… (the Oilers) became my favourite team,” said Hingst. “Every year it was getting deeper and deeper and now I’m a really big fan – especially since Leon Draisaitl was drafted. The focus was more and more towards Germany.”
Jacob started following the NHL in 2011 when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was drafted to the Edmonton Oilers. It was during the Decade of Darkness where Jacob found his soft-spot for the Oilers.
“I always like to play the game on the PlayStation – my dream was to take the worst team there was and make (them) really powerful,” said Jacob. “It happened to be the Oilers around that time and I started to connect with the team, started to watch some games – (and then they) turned into my favorite team.”
Krystal Goldstraw, originally from Edmonton, has been cheering on the Oilers from Australia for the past 13 years.
Goldstraw spread her fandom onto her husband and two daughters where they catch the games using an NHL webcast service. She said that it was “a lot of fun” trying to explain hockey to her family and friends.
“They just see people with sticks skating around and they’re just mesmerized by the speed,” Goldstraw said. “A few of them asked, ‘When the gloves come off, is that when they fight?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, it’s so much fun.'”
For Goldstraw, being an Oilers fan helps her keep close to home. Goldstraw and her family send messages to each other via a group chat during hockey games – even coming to the rescue by video calling her when the live-stream drops out.
“It just kept dropping out. I couldn’t watch,” she said. “My mom would video call me and hold the phone to the TV… we’re all cheering and helping each other out – it just makes me feel that even though I’m still so far away, I’m still connected to my home.”
Wes Gardner was born and raised in Spruce Grove, Alta., where he grew up playing hockey. He is currently living in Bangkok, Thailand with his wife and two sons.
Growing up, Gardner was lucky enough to have season seats during the 80s and 90s and said that his fandom “stays with you wherever you go.” Gardner admitted that his kids are just as obsessed with hockey as he is.
“I always watch hockey. There’s always hockey on my computer – so they picked it up from there,” Gardner said. “We started (my oldest son) off at four years old… we actually had to lie about his age because they only started off at five but we got him in at about four and a half.”
“Right from the very beginning, (my younger son) was on skates when he was three years old – they’ve just been living and breathing it ever since.”
One thing is for certain – all of these worldly Oilers fans are excited for what could be the year the Oilers bring the cup back to Edmonton.
Game 1 between the Oilers and Panthers is on Saturday at 6 p.m. MT.