Why now for the Edmonton Oilers? A primer on the Stanley Cup hopes of Canada's northernmost NHL team
CBC
Canada's northernmost NHL team is seeking to do what none of its peers on this side of the border have been able to do during the lifetime of Connor McDavid: Take home the Stanley Cup.
The McDavid-led Edmonton Oilers will have a chance to do that starting this Saturday, when they will face off against the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup finals.
Feeling a bit rusty on your knowledge of all things Oilers? Here's a quick review of some of the team's past glory days and a look at its 2024 playoff run so far.
Since Edmonton has won the Cup? More than 30 years.
For any team from Canada, also more than 30 years — though the Montreal Canadiens won the Cup in 1993.
It goes slightly further back than that for the Oilers.
Not quite that long — Wayne Gretzky won his last Cup while playing for Edmonton in 1988. (Then there was that whole trade thing.)
But the Oilers won another Cup in 1990, without No. 99 being a part of the team.
The Oilers won five Cups in a span of seven seasons.
They won back-to-back championships in both 1984 and 1985, and again in 1987 and 1988.
Their fifth time as champs was the post-Gretzky run of 1990.
Following the 1990 Cup win, the Oilers have returned to the post-season on 15 occasions — including the current playoff run.
Edmonton made it to the Stanley Cup finals in 2006, but lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in a seven-game series.
Just a handful of Canadian teams have been to the finals since then: Montreal did in 2021, while the Vancouver Canucks made it in 2011. The Ottawa Senators had their own shot at a Cup in 2007.
With the B.C. NDP and B.C. Conservatives neck and neck heading into election day on Saturday, there are also a record number of Independent candidates who — if voted in — could hold the balance of power in a minority government scenario. British Columbians have only elected one Independent MLA in the last 60 years. Vicki Huntington won a seat in 2009 and was re-elected in 2013. But University of the Fraser Valley political scientist Hamish Telford said the situation could be different this election cycle. Of the 40 Independent candidates running, six of them are incumbent MLAs, who carry the benefit of name recognition in their community. "So we've got Independents in this election who I think we could deem to be viable shots at actually winning a riding, which is not normal," Telford said. "They're still long shots, but they are certainly plausible candidates."
Though Bill C-282 has received cross-party federal support in Ottawa, Alberta's provincial government says it's not a backer of the Bloc Québécois legislation that aims to prevent Canada's supply-managed sectors — dairy, poultry and eggs — from being included in future international trade negotiations.
A former Canadian Olympic snowboarder and 15 others are facing criminal charges for allegedly running a drug-trafficking operation that shipped hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia to Canada and used violence — including murder — to achieve the group's goals, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday.