Edmonton Oilers Fan

Ever since my son Douglas began following hockey, he has been an avid Edmonton Oilers fan.  His choice of teams is slightly odd considering that he grew up in North Bay, Ontario, which is a long way from Alberta.  But I guess periodic visits to his grandparents in Edmonton and the fact that the Leafs never were much of an option all had some influence on his choice of teams.  Despite the Oilers less than stellar record in recent years, Douglas

Pre-Game Warm-Up

has remained a fan, even with our move to Vancouver three years ago.  Every season we try to attend at least one Oilers game and last night was our annual opportunity to watch them face off against the Vancouver Canucks at the Rogers Arena.  The Oilers played a very good game in

Another Disappointing Loss

the first two periods, and it was great to see their new young talent.  But the Canucks came on strong in the third and finished them off with 20 seconds left in the game, providing Douglas another huge disappointment having now attended ten live Oilers games but only seeing them win twice.

There were better times for the Edmonton Oilers, and it wasn't just during the dynasty of the 80's.  During the 2005/2006 season, the Oilers squeaked their way into the playoffs with an eighth place finish in the standings.  Then, much to everyone's

North Bay Oilers Fans

amazement they battled their way right to the seventh game of the Stanley Cup final.  It seemed to Bonnie-Rae and I that Douglas had almost willed it to happen.  He had enlisted all of his friends in North Bay as fellow fans, he had chased the Oilers for signatures when we went to Denver to see them play that

Douglas meets Chris Pronger in Denver

season, and he had collected every piece of Oilers paraphernalia he could possibly get his hands on.  Before each game he would meticulously surround himself with his Oilers collection as he prepared to watch the game on TV. 

Douglas focused on a playoff game

The seventh game of the Stanley Cup final against Carolina that year was a cliffhanger.  Carolina had established a 2-0 lead early on in the game, but Fernando Pisani brought the Oilers back to life by scoring on a rebound to make it 2-1 in the third.  We all sat on the edge of our seats in the final minutes as I prayed for a win for the sake of my young son.  But it wasn't to be and Carolina scored on an empty net in the last minute of the game, ending an amazing run for the Oilers that had been completely unexpected.  Although it was a major disappointment for Douglas, the Oilers had provided the best springtime of hockey that a fan could ever hope for, and Douglas has remained loyal to the team to this day.