The Edmonton Oilers are back in the Stanley Cup final in a celebration reaching north of the Arctic Circle and drawing in fans from as far away as the Philippines. On Monday morning, Oilers fans sloughed off grey clouds and rain to pack the team store at downtown Rogers Place. They bought jerseys, hats, T-shirts and anything else emblazoned with the team logo — an encircled oil drop crowning the drippy, gooey team nickname.
Reece Santos had his eye on a Dylan Holloway jersey. His love of hockey came from his dad, who came to Canada at age six from the Philippines and fell in love with the Oilers in the glory days of the 1980s. “My whole family plays hockey, I coach hockey now, so it’s been a big part of my life,” Santos said.
Story continues below advertisement 1:48 Oilers fans lined up ‘out the door’ at downtown businesses Calgary resident Gil Spanglet came up with nine-year-old daughter Olivia to watch the Oilers beat the Dallas Stars Sunday night to clinch the Cup berth, then stayed to buy some merchandise Monday but ran into a lot of sold-out items. Olivia got a hat. Her favourite player is Connor McDavid.
“I was (Olivia’s) age last time they won the Stanley Cup, so history repeats itself, maybe,” Spanglet said. Thousands of fans jammed the downtown outside Rogers Place Sunday night to honk horns, cheer, wave glittery orange pompoms, and chant “We want the Cup!” after the Oilers punched their ticket to the NHL final against the Florida Panthers. View.