Community league hosts Oilers fans
Orange crush takes hold of hospitals as staff, patients partake in excitement
In a city mad dog crazy over the Edmonton Oilers, not every dedicated fan can get a ticket to the games.
Not everyone can head to the party in Ford Hall, or find an empty table at the local sports bar.
Heck, some fans don’t even have cable to watch the games on TV.
“A lot of people have actually cut the cord on their cable,” Geof Lilge said Wednesday night, just as Game 4 was getting underway. “But they still want to watch the games with other people. So they come here.”
Lilge is a board member with the Bellevue Community League at 112 Avenue and 73 Street on the city’s north side.
For each game of the playoffs, the community has been hosting free viewing parties, complete with snacks and drinks, in a venue unlike any other.
The upstairs lounge in the old community hall is like walking back into the 1970s. The furniture is all orange, green and yellow, matching a similarly coloured carpet that went out of style 40 years ago, if it ever was in style.
The view from the back window is of Wayne Gretzky Drive and Northlands Coliseum, where the great Oilers teams of the 1980s won all those Stanley Cups. The only thing modern in the room is the big screen TV.
“I love this room. It’s like a basement you might remember from your grandparents or an uncle,” said James Shutz. “I’m glad they embraced the cheese.”
Shutz is one of those who doesn’t have Sportsnet at home. But he and his son Nathan still wanted a place to watch the games with friends and neighbours. As much as attending gives them a chance to cheer on the Oilers, it is also a community bonding opportunity, he said.
“I think it was a great idea for the community to do this,” Shutz said. “It’s more exciting to watch the game with people you know.”
Mike Tucker has been to a number of games with his kids Eli, 6, Poppy, 5, and wife Erin, who serves on the executive of the community league.
“We’ve been at every game. You can’t help but get caught up in the excitement.
He said going to the lounge is a perfect venue for families — even though the kids often fall asleep somewhere during the second period — and to hang out with neighbours.
The community league usually gets 40 to 50 people out for each game, though Game 3 attracted close to 75. The kids, such as Poppy, often lead the cheers of “Let’s Go Oilers,” waving orange pom poms as they run around the room.
“When the playoffs come around, everyone is a fan,” Lilge said. “But it’s more fun to watch family friends and neighbours. This shows we are pretty involved as a community.”
Meanwhile, Edmonton hospitals are pulsing orange and blue while Oilers fever continues to infect
I think it was a great idea for the community to do this. It’s more exciting to watch the game with people you know.
staff and patients alike.
“It’s one of the best things that’s ever happened to the city,” said Ada Mulgrove, a nurse working in the endoscopy ward at University hospital. “It’s brought morale up, it’s brought a sense of lightness in the air.”
Alberta Health Services dubbed Wednesday “orange crush day,” which culminated with more than 100 people chanting “we want the cup” in the University hospital cafeteria at lunch time.
Mulgrove’s ward embraced the excitement by decorating their staff lounge, now covered wall-towall in Oilers jerseys, signs and other paraphernalia.
“We have a huge fan base. A lot of us play sports, our kids are in hockey,” she said with a laugh.
Orange crush day aimed to bring staff together, said organizer Melissa Jacobs, executive assistant in health care administration and research at AHS.
“This was a longtime coming, we’re very excited,” she said.
Timmy Ng, therapy assistant at Stollery Children’s Hospital, held a sign made by one of his patients at Wednesday’s cafeteria celebration.
“He couldn’t come down but wanted someone to bring this sign,” he said. “It’s great to see all the support, everyone wearing their orange and blue.”