Patriotism fires up Edmonton Oilers fans in Grise Fiord
Nunavut family planning a watch party for Game 1 of Stanley Cup final, starting Wednesday night
Laisa Audlaluk-Watsko, left, and her children Manomie and Sophie are prepped for a Stanley Cup watch party in Grise Fiord Wednesday night. Grise Fiord is Canada’s northernmost civilian community, with a population of 140 people. (Photo courtesy of Laisa Audlaluk-Watsko)
It will be north versus south once again when the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers face off Wednesday night to open the Stanley Cup final.
It’s the second straight year that the National Hockey League’s northernmost and southernmost hockey franchises will play for the championship.
To Grise Fiord resident Laisa Audlaluk-Watsko and her family, though, they’re both southern teams.
From their living room about 1,500 kilometres south of the North Pole — and 2,800 kilometres north of Edmonton — they plan to cheer on the Oilers while they host a barbecue with some friends and neighbours. The puck drops at 8 p.m. ET.
“We have no arena here. We have no ice hockey here,” Audlaluk-Watsko said. “But it doesn’t mean that we’re oblivious to our Canadian pride, right?
David Watsko of Grise Fiord tunes in to the 2024 Stanley Cup finals. The Edmonton Oilers lost to the Panthers that year in seven games, but this year will be different, Watsko predicts. (Photo courtesy of Laisa Audlaluk-Watsko)
“It would be nice to have a Canadian team win the Stanley Cup.”
That hasn’t happened since the Montreal Canadiens beat the Los Angeles Kings in 1993. As of Wednesday, Edmonton is favoured to win the Cup, according to Las Vegas odds.
Audlaluk-Watsko attended school in Iqaluit as a child and grew up playing ice hockey there. None of her children play, but they’re all diehard Oilers fans.
In Grise Fiord, she said, children and teens typically play ball hockey indoors which is how Audlaluk-Watsko’s eldest son, David Watsko, 21, played hockey growing up.
“I have been an Oilers fan for as long as I can remember,” he said.
“Growing up, I remember cheering on the team when they had players like Jordan Eberle, Taylor Hall, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who is still in there.”
He even met some of the players at West Edmonton Mall during a 2012 family vacation.
It’s a long way from Grise Fiord to Edmonton, and at 5,600 kilometres it’s even farther to Sunrise, Fla., where the Panthers’ arena is, but Watsko has a solid handle on the series.
“The Oilers have good stats this year and they always bounce back,” he said. “They’ve been in the playoffs for the last few years, and they constantly learn and they constantly grow.”
Led by star centre Connor McDavid, Watsko believes they’re a stronger team now than they were last year, when they lost the Cup final to the Panthers in seven games.
“I’m having a good feeling about the series,” he said.
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