Sarah Warsi

This past Monday marked the end of another hockey season as the Edmonton Oilers fell short after a tough 2-1 loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 7.

However, clawing back after a 3-0 deficit is no easy feat and something the team should be very proud of.  For a while, we definitely felt the potential of bringing the Stanley Cup home to Canada. The last time a Canadian team won the Cup was back in 1993 when the Montreal Canadiens took it home. 

Now, before I continue, let me remind everyone that I, by no means, am a hockey expert.

A champion bandwagoner? Absolutely.

But that’s as far as it goes.

I join the hype train around the time of the finals. If you recall, I had written a post about our beloved Maple Leafs and their tenacious run. My attention was later brought back when I realized the Oilers were in the finals. The way I saw it, if we can’t have Toronto in the finals, then having a Canadian team would be the next best thing! 

And major kudos to Oilers captain and star player, Connor McDavid (who happens to be from the GTA!). Although the loss for the team captain was quite the blow, his stellar performance was widely recognized throughout the season. 

From what I know, which is very little,  (just keeping it real here), he’s one of the best hockey players today, having been compared to hockey veteran and icon, Wayne Gretzky – which is a huge accolade.

He was also awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the Stanley Cup playoffs. It was the first time since 2003 that a player from the losing team was given the honour as most valuable player in the playoffs – so definitely a silver lining in the midst of swallowing the pill of defeat. Some may argue that it would be awkward to be given such an award after losing, but it really speaks to the talent and hard-fought efforts of that specific player.

“We showed all year long that we could fight back, even in the most dire situations.”
– Connor McDavid, Captain of the Edmonton Oilers

These words from McDavid sum it up nicely. To go from being on the brink of elimination to levelling the playing field with a 3-3 tie is historic and a win on its own. It was the first time since 1945 for that to have happened and they are only the third team in the NHL to have ever accomplished such a feat.

At the end of the day, somebody had to win and somebody had to lose and it all came down to just one point. The Oilers gave it their best and showed that when the going gets rough, having the will to fight back can do wonders.

As the saying goes, there is always next year!