The Edmonton Oilers have been pulling off the impossible all year long.
EDMONTON -- Monday June 24th should be a national holiday.
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From British Columbia to Prince Edward Island and everywhere in-between. The Edmonton Oilers could pull off one of the greatest comebacks to ever happen in the history of the sport.
However, it didn't start at the beginning of this playoff series. This Cinderella story began back in October and November.
Hopes were high when the Oilers first took to the ice. They were the first team to have the entire NHL roster participate in Captain's Skates right from the hop. The anticipation was building.
Then the regular series opener happened, with disastrous results.
An 8-1 thumping at the hands of the Vancouver Canucks put a wet blanket on their hopes and dreams. But it was just one game.
That one game turned into a 3-9-1 start to kick off the "cup or bust" season. It looked like the Oilers and their fans were going to be in for a long season.
Enter Kris Knoblauch.
The rookie head coach replaced Jay Woodcroft, while Paul Coffey came in to replace defense coach Dave Manson. Then American Thanksgiving came along. Since the 2005-06 season, 76.7% of teams who are in a playoff position at American Thanksgiving make the playoffs.
The Oilers were 14th out of 16 in the Western Conference on November 23rd, 2023. They ranked 29th in the NHL and were 10 points behind the Seattle Kraken, who had the second Wild Card position.
But things were starting to turn around.
On November 24th they started an eight game winning streak. That streak tied for third longest in Oilers team history. But shortly after that streak the Oilers made history.
From December 21st till January 27th they were unbeaten. That period of time saw them win 16 consecutive games to tie the NHL record.
Winning streaks are magical things and a lot of magic came out of that series. The Oilers proved they could play a defensively sound game. They only allowed two goals or less in 14 straight games.
Then the playoffs arrived.
They battled through three hard series' against the Los Angeles Kings, Canucks, and Dallas Stars. That earned them a ticket to their first Stanley Cup Final in 18 years.
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But then they fell out of the gate and were staring elimination in the face after three games against the Florida Panthers.
It was then that Connor McDavid was the catalyst that began their three game come back. Now the series is tied 3-3 and we wait for Game seven on Monday.
Only two teams have ever reached this point, the 1945 Detroit Red Wings and the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs. Of those two teams only one of them has won the Stanley Cup, the Maple Leafs.
So on Monday night, the Oilers will look to do something only one other team has ever done in the history of the sport. The Oilers have been rewriting records and defying the odds and statistics all year long.
Tomorrow night they can do it one last time.
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