…the fever pitch of a city that was awash in a sea of blue and orange downtown in the hours before puck drop. Friday might as well have been a holiday in Edmonton, the home of nearly a million people now fully able to let themselves dream of the Oilers adding another white championship banner to the rafters...
And it is not just Edmonton--it is all of Canada! I read a tweet, of course I don't think it was literally true, that "all of Canada's divisions will disappear" if Edmonton wins and the Cup is returned to Canada. Down here, I haven't seen 1) one "Panthers" bumpersticker 2) one "Panthers" car flag 3) My building hasn't reverberated with cheers when the "Panthers" won as it did when the "Heat" won a playoff series (much less the league title) 4) I haven't heard fireworks go off. It doesn't matter to South Floridians. It matters to Edmontonians and Canadians. Here's to you our greatest friends and neighbors 🍺
