Down and stressed after early losses, Oilers fans are regaining their confidence

EDMONTON — When your team is already three games down in the Stanley Cup final series and a single loss would mean the dream of a championship victory parade is over, it’s understandable that the concerns among Edmonton Oilers fans are running high .

“It’s here! I’m telling you it’s this high!” said Ethan Newman, 17, who was among a large and exuberant crowd watching on a big screen outside Rogers Place in downtown Edmonton as the Oilers took an early lead against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night, eventually winning the game 5-3 .

“It’s just crazy because no one has come back and won four in a row since ’42. I don’t know, I’m pretty nervous, but I’m never giving up.”

The Oilers are looking to become the first team since the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1942 to come back from a three-nil deficit and win the Stanley Cup.

It seemed impossible and remains daunting, but after beating the Panthers 8-1 in Game 4 on Saturday night and their victory on Tuesday, Edmonton fans are hoping their team can win two more.

“I burst out crying. I’m not going to lie, I burst out crying,” 16-year-old Austin Zaplotinski said last week about the Oilers’ third straight loss.

As he spoke Tuesday, the Oilers led 4-2.

“I think the Oilers can do it. They have the best player in the world – the two best players in the world. I know they can do it,” he said.

Shania Sandoval, who admitted she has only been an Oilers fan since the start of this year’s playoffs, said she was “a little down” after the team’s first three losses in the series. She also admitted to “stress eating.”

But she said she felt a little more confident after the team’s surprising comeback in Game 4 on Saturday.

“Two more games,” she said as the clock ticked toward Tuesday’s victory. ‘The job is not finished yet. I know we can do it!’

Mary Loewen, who was dressed as the Stanley Cup at Tuesday’s watch party, said she wasn’t worried at all.

Loewen said she has been a fan since 1984, when the Oilers won their first of five Stanley Cups, and she said her confidence is strong because she feels the same way now as she did then.

“I have so much confidence in my guys – the Oilers. We’re going to do it,” she said.

However, other fans, like 18-year-old Sarah Gauvin, probably won’t relax until the Oilers win Game 7 or are eliminated.

Gauvin, who plays hockey herself and is a fan of the Professional Women’s Hockey League, was concerned after the Oilers lost three in a row early in the series.

“Oh my God, I’m barely sleeping and barely eating. I’ve been so nervous after Game three,” she said during the final minutes of Tuesday’s victory.

“It’s scary, but I think we’re going through it. I think we’ve got it.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2024.

Rob Drinkwater, The Canadian Press