Connor McDavid was in the heart of a nightmare. The captain of the Edmonton Oilers – who were among the favorites to win the Stanley Cup in September – had just suffered another demoralizing defeat.
The last-place San Jose Sharks were celebrating a 3-2 victory that brought the rebuilding team into a tie on points with McDavid’s bemused and frustrated group.
The Oilers were in free fall. It was November 9, 2023. There were a multitude of questions and few, if any, answers. Seven months later, the team finds itself – one way or another – four wins away from the Stanley Cup.
The Alberta team will begin the final on Saturday against the Florida Panthers at Amerant Arena, the culmination of a roller coaster campaign which was decided only a month after the start of the calendar.
“Our group always believed we were a good team,” McDavid said Friday. Even when things weren’t going well, I think we always believed that if we kept pushing, we would turn things around.
“When we go through that, obviously, we don’t like it. But our group came together. »
The Oilers are seeking their sixth Stanley Cup and first since 1990. They made the final in 2006, losing in seven games to the Carolina Hurricanes.
“It’s exciting,” said Oilers winger Zach Hyman. You are really close to your dream, but at the same time, really far. You have to win a series against a very good team. »
The Panthers, who have sat at the bottom of the standings for nearly two decades, will appear in a second straight final after losing in five games to the Vegas Golden Knights last year.
This will be their third final after that of 1996 which ended with the first conquest in the history of the Colorado Avalanche.
“It feels like Christmas Eve right now,” said Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk. It’s been a long week and we’ve tried to take our minds off things, take advantage of the good weather, but it’s hard not to think about match number 1.”
It will be the Stanley Cup final between the two furthest teams in the history of the National Hockey League, with 4,089 kilometers separating the two cities. Besides the distance, this series will be one of contrasts.
Committed to defense more than ever during the McDavid and Leon Draisaitl era, the Oilers rely on a devastating offense that defeated the Los Angeles Kings and erased deficits against the Vancouver Canucks and the Dallas Stars.
They count on the top four scorers in the playoffs with McDavid, Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, in addition to the top scorer in Hyman.
It took the Oilers a while to figure things out.
“You’re not going to go into the playoffs and win 16 games 5-0,” Draisaitl said. We were young players and we had all the weight in the world on our shoulders. Everyone expected us to do everything. We weren’t ready to understand what it took to win. When you’re 19, 20 or 21, it’s a fact.
“Sometimes it takes longer. »
The Oilers will still bear the brunt of Canada’s drought, which has not won the Stanley Cup since the Montreal Canadiens in 1993. The Canucks (twice), the Oilers and the Calgary Flames all lost the final in seven meetings since.
The Ottawa Senators and the Canadian also lost in the final.
The final climb to hockey immortality begins Saturday for the Oilers and Panthers.