In this week’s edition of The Fan Experience, we hear from Dan Gallant, a longtime Oiler fan who just moved back to Oil Country after years in the Maritimes.
- How long have you been an Oilers fan?
I have been an Oilers fan for life. Born in 1986 and raised in Edmonton until 2001. I spent 15 years in Nova Scotia from the start of high school until about 4 months ago. I have stuck with them through thick and thin, planning to be with them for years to come! - What prompted you to start cheering for the Oilers?
I think it was simple geography. When I was younger I was challenged by older cousins to cheer for ‘better’ teams like Detroit and Colorado.. but I stuck with the Orange, Copper, and Blue. - What is your first real memory of the Oilers?
When it comes to real fandom and emotional defeat it was ’97… on my hands and knees, praying into the couch that maybe, just maybe God could let the little guy win. - Did you have a favourite player when you first started cheering for them? Who was it, and why did you pick him?
It was definitely Kevin Lowe. As it is with most young fans, I picked him for a silly reason.. he played defence and wore number 4. - Has it been hard maintaining enthusiasm for the team over the last few years?
It has been. I had been living in Habs/Bruins/Leafs purgatory, otherwise known as Nova Scotia for the last 15 years. There had been a few random Oilers fans I had come across out there, mostly as a result of the old Cape Breton Oilers, but it felt a little like I was on an island. I also work in the sports statistics industry and so all my coworkers are acutely aware of my team allegiance and each and every failure has been magnified. On top of all that.. since moving away, I had been back to Edmonton a handful of times and had seen more than a handful of games.. and in that time, I saw a grand total of 4 goals in home games I was at. And those only came last year.12/03/2003 – MIN @ EDM (1 – 0)
12/20/2003 – VAN @ EDM (3 – 0)
10/24/2013 – WAS @ EDM (4 – 1)*
10/29/2013 – TOR @ EDM (4 – 0)
11/02/2013 – DET @ EDM (5 – 0)
02/18/2015 – MIN @ EDM (5 – 2)
02/20/2015 – COL @ EDM (3 – 2)*- Season seat holder who graciously took me to the game want to leave early during the Capitals drubbing of the Oilers and missed a late shut out spoiler
- What’s your favourite memory of seeing the Oilers live?
In the past 15 years, the two times I have seen the Oilers win, have been the two road games I have seen them play. Once in Montreal and once in Ottawa. I went to the Montreal game alone and went crazy for the boys in a big win, high fiving anyone in the Orange and Blue. And Ottawa was a trip with my Dad to see an afternoon game. So many great memories there that I will cherish for a lifetime, and the Oilers won that too. The one thing that I am constantly reminded of is to cherish each game I go to. Because when I was young, it wasn’t reasonable for our family to afford to go to games. My parents wanted to, but we did Drillers, Trappers and Eskimos games instead.I know you didn’t ask but my favourite non live moment was absolutely the 2006 finals. I was working in downtown Halifax as a bouncer and worked most of the games. To see a whole city living and dying on our team, whether they were Oilers fans or not was pretty damn awesome. - Do you think the Oilers are on the path to a Stanley Cup, or do they have more work to do to get there?
All roads point to Connor being the reason we get to see a Stanley Cup ceremony of our own. I have a superstition that I have watched every Stanley Cup final, but I refuse to watch the post game celebration until I get to see ‘my generation’ of Oilers have their time.
But yes. I think that it’s not going to happen overnight. Before the 06 run I told a custodian at my job, that that team was built for the a cup win. This is the first year in a long time that I feel like we are a tweak here and there from being a legitimate Stanley cup contender. - What transaction (since 2006) would you change if you could? Why?
This is the easiest answer of the bunch. I wouldn’t change them at all…. Because everything led to Connor. But I think if I could go back. And still get Connor. Ralph Kreuger’s firing is pretty high up there. He had 10 points back of a playoff spot and was the only coach other than Hitchcock to get Nail to play well. And then we dismissed him for no other reason than we had a shiny new toy that other people wanted (Eakins) - What’s the best part about being an Oilers fan?
It’s the other fans. Yes we bicker. Yes we fight. Yes we’re insufferable to other fan bases staying with this team after all this time. But through when ever I’d walk down the street in Halifax and see the Oilers hat on someone is nod. Smile. Just a common pain and success with others. - If you had to pick another team to cheer for, what would it be and why?
The Eskimos. There’s no second teams in this guys life. I razz friends who cheer for the Penguins when they’re not cheering for their own team. No fall backs or bandwagons for this guy.
Oilers Rig Live4MS
Our 4th annual fundraiser for the MS Society of Alberta is set for January 21, 2017 at The Pint Downtown, at 6:30pm
It’s a Battle of Alberta on HNIC, with the Oilers in Calgary. Puck drop is 8:00pm.
We’ll have a great lineup of silent auction items, as well as raffles throughout the night. We might even have tshirts for sale (but we’ll let you know as we get closer to the date).
All proceeds from the fundraiser go to the MS Society of Alberta.
See you there!
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