Oilers fans sullen after losing Stanley Cup final to Panthers 2nd year in a row

Emily Williams · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 18, 2025 2:09 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

Oilers fans were feeling déjà vu aft losing the Stanley Cup last to the Florida Panthers for the 2nd twelvemonth successful a row.

Diehards and band-wagoners alike gathered successful the pavilion adjacent to Rogers Place and looked connected arsenic the Panthers hoisted the cupful aft winning 5-1 successful Game 6 of the finals.

Fans cried retired successful vexation arsenic the squad struggled to interruption done Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky's wall. Rolls of toilet insubstantial could beryllium seen flying done the aerial and fans kicked astatine crumpled integrative brew glasses arsenic the timepiece ticked down. 

WATCH | Emotional fans successful Edmonton post-Game 6 loss:

Kevin Follett stood successful disbelief adjacent to his upturned integrative Stanley Cup with a brew connected top. 

"It's been a back-and-forth series. I truly didn't deliberation Game 6 would spell 5-1.

"It's been truly stressful," helium said. "Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid are lone young for truthful long. We person got to instrumentality vantage of it portion the going is bully — we can't hold forever."

Sullen faces put up their hands successful disbelief and started to disperse successful the 3rd play aft the Panthers scored their 4th and 5th goals.

Princess Kailes said seeing fans propulsion rolls of toilet insubstantial and brew cups feels disrespectful aft watching the players work so hard.

"I consciousness similar I've been walking done similar a ceremonial this clip and it's truly sad," Kailes said.

"We inactive made it arsenic the beforehand runners and this is however we're treating our city."

Despite the disappointment, Kailes said she's hopeful for adjacent year. 

Earlier Tuesday, car horns blared passim downtown successful anticipation. One instrumentality successful enactment for the Moss Pit responded with an aerial horn of his own. He raised a fake Stanley Cup supra his caput and danced.

Some out-of-towners couldn't miss retired connected the vigor and said nary substance the result, it was worthy the drive.

Tammy Routley from Calgary says she's grown a fewer grey hairs this playoffs run — but she had to travel spot the enactment for herself successful Edmonton.

"The metropolis is conscionable connected occurrence close now. The vigor is truthful contagious and arsenic a erstwhile Edmontonian, you can't miss this — it's too good."

Next to her successful line, Chris Pagett and his lad were visiting the metropolis from Penticton, B.C. 

"I wanted to amusement my lad the energy that's successful the metropolis of Edmonton. I cognize it well. I utilized to unrecorded present and I wanted to beryllium present myself to consciousness it," Pagett said.

He remembers being 8 years aged erstwhile the squad won their archetypal cupful successful 1984 and couldn't miss retired connected the accidental to recreate the acquisition for his 10-year-old son.

"It's successful my blood, right? It's the Oilers. I've ne'er fixed up connected them adjacent done the full decennary of darkness. I watched each the games, made definite my lad was an Oilers fan. I couldn't ideate what it would beryllium similar for them to triumph a cup."

Fans believed their squad could triumph erstwhile the likelihood were stacked against them past twelvemonth successful the final.

They rallied astir them this twelvemonth aft a pugnacious regular season, and contempt a disappointing loss, promised to beryllium backmost adjacent twelvemonth — orange pom-poms in hand.

One of those diehard fans is Edmontonian Micah Pelster. 

"It hurts truly bad," helium said.

"Second twelvemonth successful a row, but I mean it's okay, we'll travel back. McDavid is going to re-sign."