The Good and Virtuous Oilers

For an Oilers fan, these playoffs have been amazing. I've been really excited by the great Oilers performances this month and have enjoyed seeing some top notch hockey. I've also been very moved by the Oilers fans and by my home city. I've never been more proud of my city than I was when Edmontonians responded to the booing of "Oh Canada" in the US by singing the American anthem en masse at the next game.

I'll point you to my brother's fine posting about the Oilers-- he says much of what I was about to say. Paul alludes to the yearly heartbreak of watching the Oilers in the playoffs; it's something to which we became accustomed. Even this year, when it seemed the Oilers wouldn't make the playoffs, I changed my MSN IM name to: "Oh, Oilers, why must you break my heart each year?" Paul, Dale and I grew up watching the Oilers in their glory years so it's no wonder we're so thrilled to see a new era of Oilers fans and Oilers legends. But, we're also Oilers fans living out of province and Oilers fans who have lived/ are living in the US.

For many of us, especially Edmontonians living away from Edmonton, there's more to this series than great hockey. When Dale and I first moved to Nebraska (in the pre-internet days), NHL hockey scores came after the dog racing scores in the local paper. When we lived in North Carolina (where we actually heard a fan at a Hurricanes game say "C'mon, skate, y'all"), hockey was the one solid link we had to our homeland and, perhaps, our Canadian selves. During the playoffs, Dale and I would trek out to whatever sports bar in Greenville, NC we could convince to turn on the Oilers game. Each series would have a pretty solid glimmer of hope and then, more often than not, a heartbreaking ending. Still, Dale and I would sit in a corner, two voices in a silent bar, cheering our team on until the last minute of play. At the time, there was serious talk about the Oilers leaving Edmonton for a more lucrative (i.e., American) market. Sometimes it seemed like every loss was one more nail in the Oilers coffin and every victory a respite. Sometimes it seemed like our cheers were not only pleading for another goal but for the future of our team and, perhaps, for that little bit of Canada that we could hold onto in the steamy southern clime.

For Edmontononians, these playoffs are more than just a sporting event and the Oilers are more than just a team. As Edmontonians living outside of Alberta, we often hear our fine, vibrant city dismissed or see it ignored. In the Globe article, they quote Kevin Lowe as saying, "Underneath the surface is Edmonton's pent-up need to say to the world, ‘we're here too." Lowe's right. Oiler Pride is pride in our team but it's also pride in our city. For all these reasons, I say, "Go Good and Virtous Oilers! Go!"