A watch party like no other: From living room couches to arena seats, Oilers fans ready to cheer
Almost 100 fans even found their way onto a charter to see the game in Florida
The Edmonton Oilers may not be on home ice when they try to clinch the Stanley Cup against the Florida Panthers on Monday night, but screams of support will resound across Canada from watch parties, bars, seniors homes and living rooms.
"We cheer them on every single game of the season," said Derrick DeMone, an Oilers fan in Sydney, N.S., who will be watching at home with his sons, aged 24, 14 and 12.
"I haven't felt like this since I was a young boy, I'll tell you that."
In a city where he's usually outnumbered by Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins fans, DeMone said locals have come to associate him with the team he backs.
"If I'm not wearing an article of Oilers, whether it's a hat or a hoodie, then I'm not out in the public," he said with a laugh.
In Edmonton, thousands of fans have been packing Rogers Place for both home and away games during the playoffs, while thousands more watch giant screens outside the arena.
But once it was clear that Stanley Cup champs would be decided in Sunrise, Fla., more than a few Oilers fans threw their budgets to the wind to head south.
Among the travellers were Joel Meyaard and his son Carter, residents of Grande Prairie, Alta., who secured tickets on a fan-filled chartered flight that left Edmonton Sunday morning.
"It was unbelievable. Best plane ride I've ever been on," Meyaard told CBC News in Florida on Monday. "There were tons of Oilers chants, the astronaut guys were on the plane, the replica of the Stanley Cup was on the plane."
The 95-seat charter was organized by Mark Beck, who told CBC in an email that he initially thought he might be able to get a private jet to fly to Florida for the game. When an airline company came back with a 95-seat plane, Beck started spreading the word — and sold out the seats in 30 minutes.
"So there you have it — 95 orange-and-blue diehards jumping on a bird to Florida. It's gonna be wild!" Beck wrote.
Meyaard, who works in Alberta's oil and gas sector, paid $5,000 for two seats on the charter but said travelling with a plane filled with Oilers fans was worth it. "It was a riot, for sure."
Back in Edmonton, one of the most recognized fans of the playoffs — Mary Loewen, a.k.a. Mama Stanley — will don her Stanley Cup costume and return to Ice District when the puck drops.
"People are saying, 'Let's fly to Florida.' No. I want to be with the people in my kingdom," Loewen said Saturday.
Just northwest of Edmonton, where residents of a seniors home have been posting Oilers fan videos to TikTok, another release is planned for Monday afternoon.
Some of the videos, which feature residents of Everitt Gardens in St. Albert dancing and wearing jerseys and face paint, have garnered tens of thousands of views.
"Our residents love the Oilers, they're all in the spirit," said Lori Kary, the home's recreation therapist.
"One of our residents likes to watch it in his suite ... but whenever the games end and the Oilers do win, he actually opens his door and yells, 'Woot! Woot!' down the hall."'
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch's hometown of Imperial, Sask., will be hosting a watch party at the local rink on Monday night with a special treat — leftover brisket from Rockin' The Rink, a party held on Saturday night to celebrate the anniversary of the facility getting a new concrete floor.
The town's chief administrator Joslin Freeman, who is Knoblauch's cousin, said they're expecting a good crowd in the town of 372 for the deciding game of the series.
"I texted Kris the other night," she said Sunday. "I said, 'I'm glad you couldn't be here for Rockin' The Rink, but I'll throw you one hell of a party when you bring the Stanley Cup home."'
The Stanley Cup final has been a nerve-racking affair for both sides, with the Oilers losing the first three games of the best-of-seven series before rebounding with three wins of their own.
A win on Monday would make the Oilers just the fifth team in NHL history to win a best-of-seven playoff series after trailing 3-0. The Toronto Maple Leafs are the only club to accomplish the feat in the final, and that was way back in 1942.
"I just feel like this is the perfect redemption story," said Jeff Meszaros, who said the buzz was already building early Monday in downtown Edmonton.
"I think when they hoist it, that this place is gonna explode. Like, the roof is gonna pop off. It's gonna be absolute mayhem," he said.
"To be able to do this coming back from a 3-0 deficit would just be like the most epic event in sports history. Not just NHL, sports history altogether. Like, this is the biggest comeback of all time."
With files from Madeleine Cummings and Radio-Canada