2006 First Round Game 7 vs Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers: Five-time Stanley Cup champions and the northernmost team in the NHL.
The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which opened in 2016. The Oilers are one of two NHL franchises based in Alberta, the other being the Calgary Flames. Their proximity has led to a fierce rivalry known as the "Battle of Alberta". They are also the NHL franchise with the northernmost home location.
- date
- April 19, 2006
- location
- Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary
- series_result
- Calgary Flames win series 4-3
- final_score
- Flames 5, Oilers 3
- key_victory_moment
- Oilers elimination after Game 7 loss
- rivalry_context
- First playoff meeting since 1986
Lore & Background
The Oilers were founded in 1971 by W. D. "Wild Bill" Hunter and Dr. Chuck Allard and played its first season in 1972–73 as one of the 12 founding franchises of the major professional World Hockey Association (WHA). They were intended to be one of two WHA Alberta teams along with the Calgary Broncos. However, when the Broncos relocated and became the Cleveland Crusaders before the WHA's first season began, the team was named the Alberta Oilers. They were renamed the Edmonton Oilers the following year and subsequently joined the NHL in 1979 as one of four franchises absorbed through the NHL–WHA merger.
In Their Own Story
The air inside the Scotiabank Saddledome was thick with tension, smelling faintly of popcorn and nervous sweat. A lone Flames player skated toward the bench, raising his stick not in celebration yet, but in acknowledgment of a job done. The silence that followed the final buzzer was brief before erupting into a chaotic symphony of cheers, marking the moment Calgary had finally silenced Edmonton once again.
Reader's Guide
After joining the NHL, the Oilers went on to win the Stanley Cup on five occasions: 1983–84, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1987–88 and 1989–90. Along with the Pittsburgh Penguins, they are tied for the most championships won by any team since the NHL–WHA merger, as well as the most won by any team that joined the league in or after 1967. Among all NHL teams, only the Montreal Canadiens have won the Stanley Cup more times since the league's 1967 expansion. The Oilers also won six straight division titles from 1981–82 through 1986–87. Notably, however, the Oilers have not won a division title since 1987, a drought that includes their most recent two Stanley Cup wins and is the longest division title drought in all of the North American major professional sports. For their overall success in the 1980s and early 1990s, the Oilers team of this era has been honoured with dynasty status by the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Did You Know?
- The Oilers are the NHL franchise with the northernmost home location.
- The Oilers have not won a division title since 1987, the longest division title drought in all of North American major professional sports.
- The Oilers made 16 first-round selections in the NHL entry draft from 2007 to 2019, including four first overall picks.
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