Oilers going to the CUP!

It may have taken 16 years but I believe that it was worth the wait. The Oilers have made it to the Stanley Cup Finals!

The play during the playoffs by the Oilers has been incredible. Roloson has been making saves when needed, players are blocking shots as if it wasn't a piece of heavy cold rubber coming their way, scoring has been balanced throughout the lineup, and they literally had a gut check when a lot of the team was sidelined with some sort of 'avian flu'.

Since the Oilers have reached the Cup Finals, there have been a few memories that have surfaced. It's now time to become philosophical.

When Calgary made it all the way to the final I was happy for them. In an environment where it favored big spending teams like Dallas, Colorado, Detroit, Philadelphia etc., it was unlikely that a small market team, especially one in Canada was going to the finals. But it happened. I wanted Calgary to win, not because I turned into a Flames fan but because I wanted it for Canada. Canada has not had a Stanley Cup since the Montreal Canadiens won the cup in 1993.

Now that the Oilers have made it to the finals, I am glad that Calgary didn't win the cup. I want the Oilers, my team from Edmonton, to do it for Canada. That would make me far prouder than any win by another Canadian team. Charity starts at home after all.

TSN's converage of the playoffs has very scant support of the Oilers. It seems to me that they still think that the Leafs are going to wake up and somehow make the playoffs and play for the cup this summer. Sportsnet seems to have a much more favorable slant to the Oilers success. I think part of it has to do with the fact that Sportsnet West was the channel that broadcast most of the Oilers games this year. Regardless, I think that there is going to have to be a new sports channel that broadcasts more NHL games. Pretty soon there are going to be too many ex-NHLers who have become hockey analysts.

I can't say that I remember too much from the 1990 Stanley Cup Final as I was only 5, turning 6 that summer. I do remember Game 5 when the Oilers did win. I think the puck went behind their net when the time ran out and that's where their celebrating began. I think that my dad must have been away on a trip because I seem to only remember my mom and I watching the game. I believe that I cut out as many articles from the playoffs that year. I could read by that time it likely would have taken me a long time to read just one article. I don't know what happened to them but now they would sure be neat to look at. One of the games in the series had a blackout during overtime. At the time I was too young to be able to stay up. My parents would deliver the news to me in the morning by sticking a piece of paper in my light switch so that when I turned it on in the morning I would know what happened.

I was too little to be able to remember watching the days when the Oilers still had Gretzky and not winning the Cup was considered a failure. I had media guides from those days and didn't know how good the Oilers really were but I did seem to understand that the guy whose number was 99, the very last player in the media guide was a really good player. In 1990, he was gone, but the Oilers had won all of those cups. For all that I was concerned, the Oilers had always won the cup so why wouldn't they win the cup. When they won, I wasn't surprised. Sadly, I didn't appreciate the win. I got upset in 1991 and 1992 when they got to the Conference Finals and lost. They were supposed to win and it was upsetting losing both to the Minnesota North Stars and the Chicago Black Hawks. Then there were the gory years when it was lucky if the Oilers could even beat the terrible Ottawa Senators. Prior to this year, it was 1992 when they last won two playoff series' in a row. It's been very special. I've thus done my best to try to absorb as much from the playoffs as I can.

Now, I'm big enough to watch the games on my own. I have followed the Oilers over the last few years but for some reason this year I paid special attention. It had a bit to do with the lack of hockey for a year and also because I think I was beginning to like watching hockey more and more. I understood the nuances and for whatever reason got more interested in it. I'm happy that I got interested at the right time.

Now I'm greatful for any further success that the Oilers can achieve. It's been a long time since we've had any.

I no longer will take it for granted.

GO OILERS!!!!