Thanks to a mix-up involving his car keys, head coach Kris Knoblauch had to walk home the night the Edmonton Oilers sealed a spot in the Stanley Cup Finals last year. On his way, he came across an ecstatic crowd—one that he described as “mayhem”. And the excitement increased tenfold as the Oilers came back from a 3-0 deficit in the series against the Panthers. But a Sam Reinhart goal in Game 7 rained on their parade. This year, the Oilers are back again, against the same team and amidst a similar jubilation in the city.

On Wednesday, Rogers Place in Edmonton was bustling with around 20,000 Oilers fans cheering and chanting “We want the Cup!” The decibel levels read as high as 113.6, and it got to Matthew Tkachuk. “It’s not us against just the [Oilers], it’s thousands inside and outside the building,” Sportsnet’s Gene Principe reported him saying. However, funnily enough, it isn’t just the Panthers that have been inconvenienced by the craze in the city.

It might be a reason for bother for some of the locals, too. Content creator for the Oilers Nation, Woz, took to X to share an update on what’s been going down in Edmonton. “Uber prices in Edmonton right now are wild. I’m not surprised, given it’s 4 p.m., but paying $70 to go from the north side to downtown is shocking,” the post read. Well, that’s a jaw-dropping surge in the fares across the city, isn’t it? And that’s not the end of the changes that might have come over the city because of the ongoing Stanley Cup Finals.

Tim Hortons restaurants in Edmonton are serving beverages in a limited edition large orange Edmonton Oilers cup with the team’s logo and the phrase “Let’s Go Oilers!” printed on it. “No matter who your favourite NHL team is, the Oilers are now Canada’s team,” chief marketing officer Hope Bagozzi said in a press release. As admirable as the move may sound, not everyone seems to be on board with the idea.

Yesterday, a Reddit user shared a picture of one of those cups, saying, “Tim’s just gonna force this on me?” Among the many users who echoed the sentence was one who posted a similar picture with the caption, “I know. They handed it to me and I screamed like Homer Simpson.” Ouch. But then again, while the new cup design may not have impressed some people, that’s not the only thing that the renowned restaurant chain is offering as the Oilers battle the Panthers for Stanley Cup glory.

Because there are special offers for its rewards members with every purchase. With every Oilers win against the Florida Panthers, Tims Rewards members can unlock exclusive deals. It all started with them getting a $1 medium original Iced Capp with a $3 purchase after the Game 1 victory, and there will be a free 10-pack of Timbits on offer for a minimum $3 purchase should the Oilers register a second win. Well, if anything, that is one more reason for the people in Edmonton to cheer for their team as hard as they can. And in case they want another reason to cheer, they could just go through what Wayne Gretzky had to say about the Oilers’ prospects.

Why Gretzky thinks the Oilers could lift the Stanley Cup this time

Former Oilers’ captain and NHL Hall of Famer, Wayne Gretzky made his presence felt beyond the broadcast booth as he made an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. It’s been 35 long years since the Edmonton Oilers last lifted the Stanley Cup. But Gretzky thinks this could finally be their year. “This is the team to do it. One, I don’t think Florida has played a team that is as physical as Edmonton. The speed of Edmonton matches Carolina, but Edmonton’s more physical. And when you get to three championship series in a row, you’re physically beat up,” he clearly stated, while also emphasizing the ingredients that are key to playoff success.

Not too long ago, Matthew Tkachuk opened up about the bond within the Florida locker room. “Our team will stick up for each other, and we’ve got a great bond in that room. We’ve gone through so much this year and years prior to that, you know? We’ve become a family,” he said. Well, that is pretty much the kind of unity Wayne Gretzky thinks makes teams successful in their pursuit of the Stanley Cup during the postseason. “You look at the Edmonton guys, they’re always together. You look at the Florida group, they’re always together. Tampa Bay. Those teams year after year are successful, there’s no secret to why it is. They’ll go through a wall for each other, and you gotta have that in our sport,” Gretzky said.

With everything to play for in the ongoing series, it will perhaps come down to who feels that emotion more strongly. As for the support for Edmonton, it’ll not be too far-fetched to assume that they’ll have not just Alberta, but the entire nation rallying behind them, considering that no Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup since 1993.