U.K. man crosses the pond for 1st time to cheer on Edmonton Oilers in Stanley Cup final
Zac Smart says he is obliged by an English sports tradition to make his way to Canada
How far are you willing to go to cheer on your favourite sports team?
Oilers fan Zac Smart made the 20-hour journey to Edmonton from his Bristol, England, home to see his favourite NHL team play in the final. He arrived just in time for Game 3 against the Florida Panthers on Thursday at Rogers Place.
Smart fell in love with hockey in his hometown a few years ago, and two years ago he became an Oilers fan.
"When it came time to choose my NHL team, I wanted a Canadian team because I feel like the links between the U.K. and Canada are stronger than the links between the U.K. and U.S.," Smart said.
"I just watched all the Canadian teams online and fell in love with the Oilers. [Connor] McDavid, [Leon] Draisaitl, [Zach] Hyman, [Evan[ Bouchard, [Mattias] Ekholm. They were just awesome."
He said he latched onto the team's free-flowing offence, which reminded him of his favourite soccer teams.
Smart said he was obliged by a U.K. tradition to make his way to Canada when the Oilers advanced to the Stanley Cup final.
"When your football team gets to a final, regardless of whether you can get tickets or not, you go," Smart said. "You can only ever fit so many people in the arena or the stadium, [but] you just go and you hang out with the fans and you take in the experience.
"So I thought, if the Oilers get there, I'm going. They got there, here I am."
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The trip is Smart's first outside Europe. His journey included a bus trip to London, a nine-hour flight to Calgary and then another bus trip from Calgary to Edmonton.
Just being in Edmonton, the home of the Oilers is "incredible," Smart said.
"I can't believe I'm here," Smart said.
Explore Edmonton, the city's tourism, marketing and events authority, says the economic impact of the first three playoff rounds totals $179 million. That calculation includes spending by visitors, investments in hosting games and watch parties, and increased local spending.
Smart hopes to meet his fellow fans at watch parties and get a ticket for Game 4 on Saturday.
"The one thing I can see as an Englishman that's missing is good old English soccer chants," Smart said. "There's the Let's Go Oilers chant, that seems to be it here. We've got 50 more.
"I want to be inside the stadium so I can start them all off."
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With files from Sam Samson