EDMONTON -- Stanley Cup Final hockey has returned to the Alberta capital for the first time in 18 years, and the city is primed to bust out in one major orange-and-blue party.
The area around Rogers Place was buzzing with gameday activity Thursday in anticipation of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final hours later (8 p.m. ET; ABC, CBC, TVAS, SN, ESPN+) between the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers, who are in the Final for the first time since 2006.
In the lot adjacent to the arena, final touches were being made on a giant stage that will host a pregame concert featuring Canadian rock band Our Lady Peace. Sound checks echoed through the surrounding streets. Not far away, workers were putting finishing touches on “The Moss Pit,” the outdoor fan zone where thousands are expected to gather to watch the game on big screens.
Indeed, the town is poised for one giant Oilers love-in.
Now all that’s left to do, as Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl pointed out, is for the Oilers to do their part.
“I think it’s going to be special,” Draisaitl said when asked what he thinks the atmosphere is going to be like. “But we’ve got to give them a reason to be special, right?
“We have to come out and put our game in order and find our game early and just be better, really, than last (game). Excited to be back at home in front of our fans.”
Through two games, the Oilers have provided very little reason for their fans to be excited. Not only do they trail in the series 2-0, they’ve scored once in 120 minutes of hockey, a head-scratching lack of offense from a team sporting firepower like Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.
Score an early goal in Game 3, however, and the locals will go bonkers.
Paul Coffey knows exactly how crazy Oilers Nation gets when it can taste a championship. The Hall of Fame defenseman who is now an assistant with the Oilers helped Edmonton win the Stanley Cup three times as a player (1984, 1985, 1987) and now would love to do it as a coach.
“This is an iconic franchise in a great town with a great fan base,” Coffey said after the Oilers optional morning skate. “I liken it to the Green Bay Packers. The Packers are the show in town in Green Bay and hockey’s the show here.
“These people want to be entertained and they’d like us to win. I think they’re real happy we’ve gotten this far. But they still want us to go further. I do too.”
Brett Kulak agrees. The Oilers defenseman is an Edmonton native and understands what a sixth Cup title for the franchise would mean to the organization, the people and to him.
“As a kid, you think about moments like this,” the 30-year-old said. “And I think almost every day this season you think about our chance or potential to win the Cup.
“I think it’s on everybody’s mind. But for me, especially, this being my hometown team and me having grown up here, it’s really special for me to be part of this.”
Even moreso with four more wins.
