Today during the lunch hour was the Oilers Community Appreciation event downtown at city hall. There were thousands of people packed into Churchill Square to catch a glimpse of the Oilers. After losing out in the Stanley Cup Finals, I can totally understand why the Oilers would want a low key event, with only a select few present:
Attending the rally will be Oilers Captain Jason Smith, Assistant Captain’s Ryan Smyth and Ethan Moreau, Georges Laraque, and hometown hero Fernando Pisani. Also present will be Oilers General Manager Kevin Lowe, President & CEO Patrick LaForge, and Chairman Cal Nichols.
The event kicked off with Paul Lorieau singing the national anthem (and yes, he sang the whole thing). Various dignitaries and Oilers organization bigwigs made speeches, after which the palyers answered some questions from Sportsnet’s Gene Principe. During his speech, Kevin Lowe said the team considers losing the Stanley Cup a failure, to which he received a quiet boo that quickly turned into a “we’re number one” chant. He’s right though, they set out to do something and didn’t quite accomplish it. That said, I’m really glad the Oilers organization took the time come out and allow the fans one more hurrah.
I took about 70 pictures at the event, most of which turned out okay. It was one of the rare opportunities I’ve had to use my zoom lens! Anyway, I’ve added the photos to my Edmonton Oilers Playoffs 2006 photo set. This one is my favorite.
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My mom made a good point: If the rally really was for the fans, then all of those Oilers sitll in town should have been there. (I only say this because apparently Stoll and Hemsky were out at some bar on Whyte last night getting hammered, meaning they were most likely still in town.)
By that logic, the coaching staff should also have been there. I have to disagree. It’s not like the entire Hurricanes team was at the NHL Awards, only three of them (and I still can’t believe they cracked the cup).
Furthermore, being in town doesn’t mean being available for work.
it kind of does, i think, especially when they’re in the public eye all the time. it’s not like they weren’t going to get paid to be there, but i was kind of disappointed.
however, now I know why pronger wasn’t there….
And they cracked the cup because they left if in the hands of douches like Mark Recchi. Did you see him in the interview with Weight and Staal on TSN? SOOOOOOO hammered, it was kind of embarrassing.