When a team wins a championship, we often see the joyous locker room celebrations with champagne showers and happy hugs.
What we rarely witness is the other team’s sorrowful locker room right after their loss. The Edmonton Oilers gave us a glimpse of this heart-wrenching scene after their Game 7 defeat to the Florida Panthers in last season’s Stanley Cup Final.
The silence in that room was deafening. Hearing commissioner Gary Bettman present the Stanley Cup to the Panthers made it even worse for them . The Oilers have two of the NHL’s top offensive players, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but for eight years, they couldn’t build a strong enough team around them to win a championship. Everything finally came together during the 2023-24 season, leading them to their first Stanley Cup Final since 2005-06. They fell behind 3-0 in the series against a tough Panthers team but managed to force an improbable Game 7.
Heartbreak After Near Comeback:
If they had won, it would have been one of sports’ greatest comebacks. Instead, they fell short in Game 7, creating that heartbreaking scene we saw earlier. Despite being an excellent team, there’s no guarantee they’ll get that close again soon. Making multiple Stanley Cup Finals is incredibly tough; it took nearly ten years for this group to reach one.
Fans might think it’s frustrating how close they came only to fall short.
They still need improvements in goal and defense before they can return to such heights. With McDavid and Draisaitl on their side, there’s always hope, but more support is essential for future celebrations.
Do you think they’ll make it back soon?
