Edmonton Oilers thrill fans with historic Stanley Cup Final upset

One of Sherina Gwaduri's earliest memories is gathering around the family television to watch an Edmonton Oilers game.

Once, she and her brother Karim stayed to watch a game and meet superstar player Wayne Gretzky, who was the team captain at the time.

“Basically ever since I was born, love for the Oilers has been in my blood,” the 43-year-old, who now lives in Vancouver, told the BBC.

Her brother died suddenly four years ago.

Now she wears his Oilers jersey to every game, including her hometown team's miraculous comeback win over the Florida Panthers in this year's Stanley Cup Final.

The Edmonton Oilers are one win away from claiming the National Hockey League's (NHL) biggest prize as they play the final game of their best-of-seven series against Florida on Monday.

If the Oilers win, they will become the first Canadian NHL team to win the championship since the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Los Angeles Kings in 1993. It will also be the Oilers' first Stanley Cup title since 1990.

But the team is on the brink of an even rarer event: No team has come back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the series in the Stanley Cup Finals since 1945. Only three teams in NHL history have accomplished such a feat.

And the only other team to bounce back from such a disadvantage to win the Cup was the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs.

Fans like Gwaduri say a win for Edmonton would mark a significant milestone in the illustrious history of the team that once featured Gretzky and what many argue is the greatest ice hockey player of all time.

The team's winning streak in the 1980s earned Edmonton the nickname “The City of Champions.”

A win would also be a source of pride for Canada, home to passionate fans who have waited decades for the Stanley Cup to return to the birthplace of modern hockey.

Gwaduri said her husband, an avid fan of the Oilers' rival team, the Vancouver Canucks, was also excited about the possibility of a win.

“We're all united in this excitement of, 'Oh my goodness, is this really happening?'” she said.

Once the best team in the NHL, the Edmonton Oilers have had a long history of bad luck.

In 2006, the team advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals hoping to win their sixth championship, but lost in Game 7 to the Carolina Hurricanes.

The period that followed became known as the “Dark Decade.”

But in 2015, the Oilers signed Connor McDavid, a then 19-year-old hockey phenom from the Toronto area.

Daniel Nugent-Bowman, who covers the team for sports magazine The Athletic, said the talented young player has proven he is one of the talents of a generation.

“The term is used loosely but he really is a player of a generation,” Nugent-Bowman told the BBC.

McDavid is known for his incredible skills on the ice and his speed and accuracy that few other players can match.

“If his career ended today, he'd be in the Hall of Fame and go down in history as one of the greatest ice hockey players of all time — and he's only 27 years old and has never won a Stanley Cup,” Nugent-Bowman said.

But it took nine years after signing McDavid for the Oilers to compete for a Cup again.

“This journey didn't happen overnight,” Nugent-Bowman said.

The dramatic comeback against the Florida Panthers and the team's resilience will only add to the excitement on Monday.

“I'm a big fan of really good stories,” said Travis Sengaus, who supports the rival Calgary Flames but is excited about Edmonton's success.

Sengauss reviewed some miraculous comebacks in sports history, such as when the Boston Red Sox beat the New York Yankees in the 2004 American League Championship Series, becoming the first, and still only, team in major league history to rally from a 3-0 series deficit.

Or when LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Golden State Warriors in 2016 to win the National Basketball Association (NBA) championship after a 3-0 series lead.

It is widely considered one of the greatest basketball finals of all time.

He said the Oilers are at the beginning of their own great story and that it's one that's “very hard to resist.”

Of course, the Florida Panthers have their own story. A relatively new franchise, founded 31 years ago – the same year a Canadian team last won the Stanley Cup – the Miami-based team is clamoring for its first championship ever.

They came close to winning the championship last year, but lost four of five games to the Vegas Golden Knights in the finals.

Florida isn't really known for winter sports, but the state has seen a surge in ice hockey fans following the recent success of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021.

“I'm not worried about the past at all,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said ahead of Monday's game.

“The concerns from the last three games didn't affect Edmonton and they won't affect us,” he said.

Oilers coach Chris Knobloch, meanwhile, said he's just enjoying the journey.

“Not just because we got to Game 7, but I think we were having a great time even when we were down three games,” he said.

The series is supported by tens of thousands of passionate fans in Edmonton, the northernmost city in North America with a population of just over one million, known for its frigid winters and indomitable spirit.

Edmonton-area teacher Spencer Bennett said his school streamed Game 6 during his middle school graduation ceremony.

“It was amazing, we were all cheering, high-fiving and screaming at the top of our lungs,” he said.

When he and his students sang “O Canada” during the game's livestream, it was “like 16,000 of your closest friends singing the national anthem together.”

“It was the loudest thing I've ever heard in that building,” said Nugent-Bowman, who was inside the arena.

“Hockey is everything in Edmonton,” he said, even though younger generations likely can't remember Gretzky's heyday of dominance.

“It's been a tough year and the people of Edmonton have been waiting a long time for a team like the '80s to return.”

For Gwaduri, the win is a chance for Edmonton to once again live up to its nickname.

“New generations will see that this was and still is a city of champions,” she said.

She plans to watch the season finale with her husband, children and extended family.

“It's like going back to the '80s or '90s and being together with your family and watching (your team) hoist the Cup.”