Oilers Hockey

Those of you who are NHL hockey fans know that the Stanley Cup playoffs are on right now, and that tonight was game 5 of the final series, between the Hurricanes and the Oilers.

I am not a serious fan of hockey. Or rather, I should clarify by saying that I enjoy hockey, but because I'm working in the bush every summer, I have very little idea of what is going on in the playoffs most of the time. Except this year, because I'm working outside of Edmonton.

Oilers fever is everywhere. There are Oilers flags on every third car and truck, and Edmonton's Whyte Avenue (the best strip of bars and nightclubs) is dealing with massive traffic and riots every time a game is on.

Tonight, many people expected the Hurricanes to win the Cup. They were ahead in the series, three games to one, and the game was not being held on Edmonton's home turf. The score was tied after three periods, and just moments into overtime, the Hurricane went onto a power play and within moments, the announcers were screaming that someone had scored. We thought it was all over, but it was the Oilers who won the game with a short-handed goal! Game six will be this Saturday night in Edmonton. The police are probably drafting up riot plans already.

But this is the funny thing about the whole series: I don't think that any of the players on the Edmonton team are from Edmonton, yet four of the Hurricanes are from Edmonton. Does anyone else find this ironic?