THE DECADE OF DROUGHT IS OVER!
Can Oilers recreate the magic of 2006?
There are surely people in Edmonton who will be completely unaffected, and some perhaps disaffected, by the Oilers’ first playoff berth in 11 years.
Transplanted Canucks fans, for instance. Those who choose not to embrace or even acknowledge the tao of hockey, for sure. Edmonton is a metropolis of roughly one million, after all, and this city’s people dance to the beat of many different drums.
But we are also a community much closer-knit than our farflung suburban threads would suggest possible. And on game nights in April, the unaffected and disaffected will be much harder to find than the core of jersey-wearing, flag-waving, back-slapping, highfiving, beer-drinking, wing-eating hordes who will gather at Rogers Place and the city’s bars and restaurants to slake their thirst for playoff hockey.
When the games are done, those fans will spill into the streets in Ice District and on Whyte Avenue and set the celebratory tone. They will command the B-roll and newspaper photos, these painted faces of playoff hoopla.
When time passes and people remember Edmonton going crazy back in the spring of 2017, it will be a testament to the exuberance of these people and the psychic grip in which the Oilers hold this city.
No matter what noble aims we establish here, and there are plenty of reasons to puff out our chests — a groundbreaking entrepreneurial spirit, a tangible commitment to diversity and inclusiveness — an Oiler playoff run always binds us tighter and renders us giddier.
“City council and countless non-government organizations working in culture, the arts, music, business and education do our darndest to create year-round vibrancy, civic pride and sense of community in Edmonton,” said Coun. Scott McKeen.
“When the Oilers are in the playoffs, we all get trampled by the throng cheering on the lads. Say what you want, but the Oilers top the charts as far as inspiring, albeit temporarily, an ardent sense of civic identity and pride.”
He knows it as well as anybody because he has been among those people.
“I regret that I don’t have the same passion I used to have for watching Oilers games. But playoffs rekindle it. I was on Whyte Avenue more than I should admit in 2006.”
For the record, he wasn’t flipping cars. The celebratory mood on Whyte took a thuggish turn 11 years ago and the physical damage done was accompanied by a hit to our reputation as a city that really ought to know how to behave in the playoffs, what with all those Oiler and Eskimo championships.
We need to be better than that this time.
True, there is some pent-up passion after an extended drought, and fans are raring to go. But there is a right way, a benign way if you will, to approach it.
“I was driving down St. Albert Trail this morning and a guy at the light next to me had his jersey on, his Oilers cap on,” Eskimos president Len Rhodes said on the day after the Oilers clinched.
“I could see the euphoria already starting.”
He understands it well, having grown up around championship teams in Montreal, and seeing his own franchise win the Grey Cup.
“It’s the pride that transcends the sport or the team. It brings people together. It’s that one common platform that people can celebrate and rally around.”
And it’s not just hardcore sports fans or Oiler season ticket holders.
“It goes way beyond the core sports nut when it is the Oilers, because the playoff run can last so long,” said Ian Reade, athletic director at the University of Alberta.
“We all know of lots of people who don’t watch a game all year, and have house parties to watch the playoffs if the Oilers are winning.”
Because the action has moved to Ice District and Rogers Place, regular-season game nights have already enlivened the downtown core. That’s good for atmosphere and business.
“We just expect to fill for game nights, and it doesn’t matter what team they’re playing,” said Chris Lachance, founder and president of the Century Hospitality Group, which owns downtown eateries Lux and The Parlour.
“With the Oilers making the playoffs after this long, it’ll be blue sky and sunshine. The beer taps will be flowing, the cash registers will be going. I’ve got an optimistic outlook on it.”
Taxi companies, Uber drivers and hoteliers should also see a bump in revenues for as long as the Oilers are alive in the post-season.
The Oilers, of course, will cash in most of all.
Playoff ticket prices have been jacked way up, but they’re getting scooped up, because nobody wants to miss out on the biggest show in town.
“I kind of equate it to Calgary and the Stampede,” said Lachance. “With Stampede there for 10 days, nothing gets done. Everybody just takes it off and celebrates the Stampede. Everybody gets done up in western garb and pulls those shirts out of the closet that they only wear in early July. I think the same thing goes here. Guys you would never expect to wear an Oiler jersey are wearing an Oiler jersey.”
And they’re spending money. “This is not a time for restraint or constraint,” said Jerry Bouma, chair of TrackTown Canada. “It’s a case of ‘Let’s have fun celebrating this.’ ”
With unemployment in the city at 8.3 per cent in February, and with the provincial government’s latest budget sporting a $10.3-billion deficit, Edmontonians could use an economic leg up, or perhaps an excuse to forget about all those ills. An Oilers playoff run has a way of loosening the purse strings as well as the inhibitions.
“We all need a reason to celebrate in these tough economic times and a playoff spot is just the boost Edmontonians need,” said Janet Riopel, president of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce.
There may also be an opportunity to show off on national TV, depending on how deep this run goes.
“Investments in infrastructure, Ice District, and many of our local festivals and attractions will be highlighted to the world during the playoffs,” said Murray Davison, executive director of the Old Strathcona Business Association.
That’s a potential side benefit to the real show on the ice.
If the Oilers meet and beat the Flames, there are provincial bragging rights up for grabs. Rivalries like that make playoff wins even sweeter.
Mayor Don Iveson is counting on the bond between team and city to do its part.
“The energy of sports fans in our city is incredible,” he said. “I’m so proud of the Oilers’ success this year and I have no doubt that the enthusiasm of the fans is enough to take them all the way to a Stanley Cup win.”
A Stanley Cup win hasn’t happened for Edmonton since 1990, and the Oilers have made the playoffs just 10 times in the 26 seasons since.
Prolonged absences have made the fans’ hearts grow fonder. So too the new building, the league’s next phenom Connor McDavid, solid coaching, management and leadership — it has all fostered a sense of hope and community not felt here since 2006.
“The city was actually levitating,” Bouma said, recalling 2006.
“Everybody was walking on air. What makes Edmonton unique is it’s like a big small town and everybody really pulls together. Everybody is so invested in the team, to have that personal, emotional connection. In bigger cities you don’t have the same sense of community.”