Oh Edmonton, O Canada, Oh YEA!!!

What an unbelievable night, what an unreal playoffs, what a thrill! It's pretty tough to overstate how crazed I was last night when the Oilers reached the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 16 years with a 2-1 win over the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. (Maybe not as crazed as this Edmonton fan from the Blue Mile in Edmonton, Alberta last night, [left] but I was pretty close!) Quick confession - I was out with friends last night to celebrate a birthday, so I didn't watch the game live, but I DVR'd it and watched it in full, start to finish (and commercial free) when I got home at 3 a.m. Easiest all nighter I've ever had.

Anyway, we were at a bar and I was doing some gawd awful karaoke, and I lost my nerve and checked my cell phone - I just HAD to know and couldn't wait.

I finished singing, read this score, and made this announcement: "The Edmonton Oilers are going to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 16 years! Woo Hoo baby!"

Silence. (Keep in mind, this is a bar in Philadelphia - I'm lucky I didn't get capped)

Then, without thinking, I blurted out, "Oilers in 6!" (I know, ridiculous - I don't even know who Edmonton is facing in the Finals yet!) I step off stage, and some girl goes, "Oilers and sex? All right!" I just laughed, and promptly did a shot with Vandra to toast the Oilers.



Wrapping up the song before I break the big news to the crowd. Notice the words on the screen - from a classic Beastie Boys hit. Notice I didn't need no stinkin' screen. And also notice my hand motion goes with the lyrics on said screen!
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We are going all the way, and I don't care which team we face! I'm happy, delirious and pretty much drunk with joy. It's been a looong 16 years. It's going to be a tough, and probably long, series, but the way the Oilers, and specifically Edmonton Goalie Dwayne Roloson are playing, I think the Oilers will be a very difficult team to beat in a seven-game series.

A few pics from last night...



A very cool overhead shot of Edmonton's new hero, Goalie and Conn Smyth Trophy candidate Dwayne Roloson. This guy has icewater in his veins. What a surprise, what a steal from the Minnesota Wild.



Raffi Torres pots the game- and series-clincher in the second period. Beautiful.



Edmonton superstar Center Shawn Horcoff celebrates Raffi's rip. You just knew I was going to include another fisheye goalcam photo, didn't ya? I love these shots. Streaks in this shot are due to a camera malfunction.



Edmonton RW Ryan Smyth (center) celebrates sweet victory, and his first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. He is the longest tenured Oiler on this team, and he has endured many hard seasons, and defeats. No one on this team, and I mean no one, deserves this more than #94.



Grown men happy as kids. It's so awesome to see, especially when they are wearing Oiler sweaters. Michael Peca, #37, and Ales (Al-ISH) Hemsky are two of my heroes on this team. Peca deserves particular praise because his regular season was just short of a disaster. He scored 9 goals, while earning $4 million US. That's $444,444.44 per goal. Ungood. However, as baaaaad as Peca's regular season was, he's been the exact opposite so far in the playoffs. He's been worth every penny - it's almost impossible to quantify how great he has played. I hope he comes back next year, but I doubt it. Wait, who cares about next year? We've got a Stanley Cup Final to play!



Warrior, say hi to a warrior. Anaheim Captain Scott Neidermayer, a three-time Stanley Cup Champion, shakes hands with Edmonton's Ethan Moreau. There is no post-game tradition that is classier in all of sports than the handshakes after a hard fought hockey playoff series. You do not see this in baseball, basketball or football. Sure, some players will mingle and shake hands (especially in football and basketball, not so much in baseball), but hockey players actually line up and shake hands; every player greets every player, and this includes the coaches. It's a wonderful throwback to when athletes respected the game. I love this about hockey.



The goalies exchange pleasantries. Just another cool shot from this cool tradition. Not even 20 minutes prior to this picture, they were competing, and competing hard for their respective teams. Now, it's over, and congratulations (and consolations) are exchanged.



Don't touch that trophy! Oilers Captain Jason Smith smiles and gets a picture taken with the Campbell trophy, but he doesn't touch it, and the Edmonton players pretty much ignored it. Some teams think it's a jinx to touch the trophy, others celebrate and hold it high. No matter your point of view, you can point to evidence that it's either a jinx or it isn't. The '94 Rangers touched the Wales trophy and they hoisted the Cup; other teams haven't dared touch the trophy and they won the Cup. Either way, this is what Smith chose to do. "I thought about it, and I just thought it was the right thing to do," said Smith after the team left the ice. No one can blame him - it's his decision. Besides, he wants to be like other Oiler captains in the team's wonderful history who are called over to the table to lift up something a little heavier and a helluva lot more prestigious...



I still believe!