The hearts of Edmonton Oilers fans shattered Monday night as the team lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final. On Tuesday, many were still trying to put the pieces back together. "I wore all black to work.
I'm in mourning," said Jamie Cessford, an Oilers fan who lives in Vancouver. "I'm definitely still reeling a bit." Cessford was clad in an orange Jordan Eberle jersey Monday night as he sat in a bar in downtown Seattle watching the Florida Panthers edge the Oilers 2-1 to capture the championship.
He and his friend were silent for much of the third period as Edmonton pressed, trying in vain to tie the game. After the final horn sounded, they walked to a concert nearby and Cessford thought back to the last time he'd cheered Edmonton on in a Stanley Cup final. That was 2006, when the Oilers lost to the Carolina Hurricanes.
"I was just like, 'Man, this doesn't get any easier as you age,"' Cessford said. "The sports pain is still real as you reach your mid- to late 30s." Panthers defeat Oilers 2-1 in Game 7 to win Florida's 1st ever Stanley Cup Oilers' Connor McDavid wins Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP after Game 7 loss The Oilers, who entered the 2023-24 season with a Cup-or-bust mentality, finished one win away from a historic comeback and becoming the first Canadian team since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens to hoist the Cup.
Fans had jammed Edmonton's downtown to watch the Oilers play in person or on big screens for the last two months of playoffs, including father and son Cary .