Edmonton Oilers Reach Stanley Cup Final After 16 Years
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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:03 >> Puck Talk with Donnie and Ben live right here on this Monday,
00:07 where we saw both of the conference finals come to a close over the weekend.
00:12 And neither reached a game seven, bad for my bet that had at least one of the two
00:17 sets getting to a seventh and final game, because both came to a close in game six.
00:23 We start with a celebratory night inside the Donnie Dreisaitl household there
00:28 in South Jersey, as he looked up at the great white north and the Edmonton Oilers.
00:33 Victorious in game six, a two to one final for Edmonton to get back to the cup
00:38 final for the first time in nearly two decades since 2006.
00:44 A two one victory for Edmonton,
00:46 they scored twice on their ten shots of the game.
00:50 On the other side, the Stars had 35 shots and only got one pass.
00:55 Stewart Skinner, the net minder for the Oilers, an incredible goal,
01:00 a sick, nasty goal out of Connor McDavid.
01:02 Got the scoring started last night in game number six, and
01:06 the Oilers now have an opportunity to win Canada's first Stanley Cup in three decades.
01:12 >> Yeah, I wish my Philadelphia 76ers had played out the way the Edmonton Oilers
01:16 are playing out now.
01:17 What I mean by that is the Oilers were bad for a long time.
01:20 And what do they keep doing?
01:21 Stacking top pick after top pick after top pick.
01:24 And eventually, you wanna hit on that generational talent and
01:26 they got one in McDavid.
01:27 And you're right, that dangle for the first goal was absolutely tremendous.
01:32 And I'm watching the highlights back where the announcer's basically saying,
01:35 forget about actually executing that play.
01:37 Who would think of doing that in a Western Conference Finals game and
01:41 be able to execute and pull it off for the first goal of the game,
01:43 which was massive, lit the lamp, the crowd was on fire, and
01:46 away the Edmonton Oilers went.
01:48 But we are looking at this series approach here.
01:50 And I gotta tell you, when we're just reading the lines as handicappers,
01:53 forget about game number one.
01:55 The series price here, Ben, Edmonton only a plus 106 without home ice advantage.
02:00 Which again, this is gonna start up Saturday in Southern Florida.
02:03 This is gonna be a great series all the way through.
02:05 Two great opponents going toe to toe.
02:08 We could see lower scoring games.
02:10 We could also see higher scoring games between these two.
02:12 It'll be fun to see which way this series goes.
02:14 >> And the Oilers had a little bit of fallen promise.
02:18 Last year bounced in the second round,
02:20 expected to be here with the likes of Conor McDavid,
02:24 who is playing at an otherworldly level.
02:26 Conor McDavid was expected to bring his team to this stage,
02:30 a chance to win Lord Stanley's Cup.
02:32 The Oilers before the year got underway,
02:34 second best price to win the West at 5-1, 11-1.
02:39 Tied for the third best number to win that Stanley Cup, and here they are.
02:44 It was the Stars taking a 2-1 series advantage.
02:47 Edmonton won the final three games.
02:49 It was the Rangers taking a 2-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals,
02:54 and Florida returned the favor, winning three consecutive.
02:58 End of the Cup final for a second consecutive year,
03:01 as the final five games of the ECFDRS decided by only a single goal.
03:07 The Panthers victorious in Sunrising game number six over the weekend as well.
03:12 >> And you know what's interesting about this too, Ben, cuz we line it up.
03:15 And just watching hockey and being a fan of hockey, say, boy,
03:18 this is a really great matchup.
03:20 But at the same time, you do have a superstar player, McDavid,
03:22 that people wanna watch.
03:24 But just think of these two hockey markets.
03:25 Like, yes, Edmonton's a big hockey market, obviously in Canada.
03:29 But does that resonate with the American people, Edmonton versus Florida?
03:32 Because if you would ask the executives before this series started,
03:36 which way would you want this to play out?
03:38 I think they would have both told you.
03:39 Give us the Rangers in there, give us the Dallas Stars.
03:41 You got the opposite.
03:42 But as again, a hockey guy now, I love this matchup in the finals.
03:46 But it's just a shame that we'll see what the ratings actually turn out to be,
03:50 because it's not two markets that the National Telecast probably want at
03:54 this point.
03:54 >> No, it is not, especially with the dream of the New York Rangers and
03:58 maybe the Dallas Stars in terms of just large metropolitan areas.
04:02 But Edmonton is not only playing for Edmonton,
04:05 the Oilers are playing for all of Canada.
04:08 Trying to win the first Stanley Cup for the nation of Canada.
04:12 Hockey's birthplace since 1993 in the Montreal Canadiens,
04:17 but the Oilers are the underdog.
04:20 Florida is the favorite into their second consecutive Cup final at -128.
04:27 The R.S., this is a matchup not only maybe that it's not desirable to the TV
04:31 markets and the TV networks, but it is the northernmost team in the National
04:36 Hockey League against the southernmost team.
04:39 We've got a team in Edmonton, and
04:41 we've got a team in South Florida screwing off for the Cup.
04:44 >> Now, my favorite part of this series is going to be is how many times on
04:48 the screen is Wayne Gretzky going to be shown?
04:50 And certainly, Wayne Gretzky should be in the building on a night-to-night basis,
04:54 and maybe even to start to sing the Canadian national anthem before the game
04:58 in the crowd.
04:59 You wanna set it off?
05:00 Put the 99 jersey on Wayne and
05:02 put him in that crowd before game number three up in Edmonton.
05:05 Let's do it.
05:07 >> Canada's gonna go crazy up in Rogers' place.
05:10 People might even take off their tops.
05:12 Not sure if you saw social media this weekend, but
05:15 Edmonton has a very spirited fan.
05:17 >> Where you live, man.
05:18 >> [LAUGH]
05:19 [MUSIC]