Episode #1

Chasing The Cup

FYI this is my first blog ever.

June 20^th, 2024 (night before game 6 )

It’s the night before game 6 of the Stanley Cup final between the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers, and I’m at Denny’s near the Vancouver International airport working on my website and editing a blog. Excited is an understatement. As Willy’s Sports Talk is an unbiased show, I will be neutral as much as possible, but if you know me, you would already know that I’m a diehard Oilers fan. As it just happened, the Edmonton Oilers were in the Stanley cup final for the first episode of Willy Sports Talk show, which made my energy even higher.

The morning of June 21^st, 2024 (day of game 6)

I woke up at 5:45 am on my boat at Vancouver Marina, 5 minutes from the Vancouver International airport. Smooth sailing going through security to catch an Air Canada flight to Edmonton. Uncle Dunk and I started the day by doing a video introduction of the show with an Oiler fan, Chris. We did multiple takes and the 2^nd take was way smoother than the 1^st.  We then met this lady who, at first, we thought was really bitchy to her kids but realized it was because the kids lost her phone with their tickets on it and it was nightmare going through customs. After a 30-minute conversation with Carla I thought, “what a beautiful human being!” Don’t judge people by first impressions, like lots have of me in my drinking days. That said, I don’t care what others think of me, except for my close friends and family. I’m so fortunate to be raised properly, and to be from Powell River BC.

If you’re interested in great restaurants and fishing charters, for example, feel free to contact me for recommendations. Below are my favourite places for a great hearty breakfast and Fishing in Powell River BC, on the Sunshine Coast.

Julie’s Airport Cafe

I really enjoyed Julie’s airport café, located at 7550 Duncan Street, in Powell River. The waiters were all amazing and Julie’s grilled meatloaf sandwich was fantastic.

Jimmy Jack Charters

Jimmy Jack Charters fishing tours are well researched, fun and on top of the fish. Totally recommended. 

On the plane

I’m boarding plane now, and not sure how Uncle Dunk and I do it, but we met two gorgeous sisters, Shannon Paton and Erynn Schluter on the plane to Edmonton, and we start chatting. I found out Erynn, whose husband also grew up in Powell River, just got a cabin on Powell Lake right near where I’m from!  We start trading names and Erynn then realizes that I dated her sister in-law who was also one of her bridesmaids, Kristi Byer. What a small world we live in! I actually ran into Kristi last week and she is still hot as ever. No disrespect to her significant other… just being honest here. PS I got permission from Carla, Shannon, Erynn and Kristi to mention their names and the words beautiful and hot surrounding them. I deeply respect all of them.

At the arena

We arrived to Rogers Place for Game 6 of Oilers vs Florida early to check out my new Oilers season tickets spot for next year. I’ll be in the lower bowl, Section 105, Row 24, Seats 5 & 6. I had 4 season tickets, but sold 2 seats at value to cover the trip to Florida (if it goes to Game 7). The crowd was slowly coming in and just like Game 6 vs Dallas the Oilers crowd didn’t seem nervous. There was a good vibe going on and it came from the Oilers team. There was no panic. Later that night on Sportsnet the commentators said the same thing about the team and crowd. Yes, the Oilers didn’t deserve to win game 6 against Dallas to advance to the Stanley Cup final. Dallas’ tactics were more advanced and should have beaten the Oilers, but it didn’t end out that way. A perfect example of the opposite was in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final, when Edmonton should have won against Florida but they didn’t because of Florida’s hot goal tending. To win a series, your goalie has to steal a game, the roll players do their part, and so do the Hockey Gods.

Warm up

The lights go out and the crowd gets on their feet for the entrance of the teams. It was wild. I had to sit down because of the emotions I was going through. I have been really close to passing out, and ask Uncle Dunk, last year’s playoffs I did for 2 seconds. He had to help me up. He always jokes about he should have pushed me down the stairs, and sometimes I’m not sure if he was joking. That’s why I sit in seat 2 and not on the aisle because I could roll down the stairs by fainting or being pushed.

Puck drops

I’m tensed, while Uncle Dunk is positive, and earlier pointed out Florida’s warm up compared to the Oilers. Edmonton was flying around compared to the Panthers. Oilers dominated the first 30 minutes of the game, with 1 nothing Edmonton after the first period, with a nice saucer pass from Leo to Foegele. Uncle Dunk again held me up from falling. I had to sit down and cheer with a tear in my eye. I look at my phone and Ally, my daughter, texted asking if I was crying. Yes, I am Ally. In the 2^nd period, the Oilers were still all over Florida, when Yanmark gave a nice pass to Henrique, making it 2 zip. Oilers 3^rd goal was another breakaway goal from Hyman. Alexsander Barkop scored a beauty for the Panthers to make it 3-1 Oilers. To close out the game, McLeod and Nurse scored empty netters for the Oilers, which made it 5 to 1 for the Oilers. Forcing a Game 7 on Monday in Florida. If the Oilers had lost, I would have had 24 hours to cancel the flight to Florida, but thankfully the Oilers won and so I’ll be heading to Florida on Sunday for Game 7, Monday evening.

June 22^nd, 2024

After a good night sleep, I recommend we head down to White Avenuefor brunch at a Mexican restaurant, Julio’s Barrio. It was the best and I totally recommend it. If you’re ever in Edmonton, I recommend Julio’s Barrio as well as Blues on White, which are 100 yards apart. It was my hang out when I worked in Alberta, in 2014. They have 3 bars with 2 live stages inside and outside. Lots of good drinks, music and dancing. Commercial hotel which I’ve stayed at before is connected to Blue’s on White, and goes for $125 a night.  If you’ve ever been on White Avenue, let me know through our social media platforms. Uncle Dunk said it was his best afternoon he’s had in a long time and if you know him, he’s had a lot of great afternoons. It was the most I danced since my drinking days, 5 years ago. 8 hours later, we head back to camp for a good night’s rest.

The morning of June 23^rd, 2024

We’re off to the airport with no lines going through the Edmonton International Airport. We get settled at our gate and I start working on a blog while Uncle Dunk naps. While writing, I have a conversation with an old scaffolding bud, KJ Bird about the possibly of 2 extra seats in their press box. We would sell our current seats to jump in their suite. That would be fucking amazing. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Just the thought of Big KJ of thinking of us goes a long way. Knew he was a class act when I met him, back when I worked in Edmonton.

Thank God we booked our flights in May, just in case there was a Game 7 since most of the fans who booked after Game 6, will take 2 lay overs to get to the game on time. This is called the milk run. We only have 1 lay over, in Denver, Colorado and will arrive in Florida at 7 am, on Monday. I’ll spend my time working on my website and blogging, which I find a lot of fun, and passes the time. The reason we stayed in Edmonton for two days after the game, is that if Florida would have won Game 6 (the Cup) in Edmonton, we would have had time to get refunded the flight to Florida.

I hope you enjoy this read, because I’m having a blast doing this and from rumors, lots want to know our journey of Chasing the Cup. Please like, share, and subscribe on all my social media platforms. It will help keep my dream alive.

After I wrote for the blog, I went for a walk through Denver’s airport looking for a bar to continue my writing. I ran into Dallas King again, who I met earlier in Edmonton airport. We sit down and discuss hockey, and I show him my business card for Willy’s Sports Talk. Dallas says there’s the RA (Rear Admiral from Spitten Chicklets) and we both say let’s go and BS with him. In my head I’m thinking this could be my break because Spittin Chicklets are an iconic hockey podcast. They’re like the Wayne Gretzky of hockey, or the Tiger Woods of golf. RA was so cool and so real. I gave him my business card and, RA said to give him a shout out after the NHL draft in Vegas. We then took pics and he complimented my Oiler tattoos.

I ordered another non-alcoholic beer, while two characters from Calgary sat beside us, and more hockey conversation came up. Muthu Chandrasekaran and Gord Cameron noticed my Edmonton Oilers 1984 Stanley Cup ring, which I got off Market place. I then told the Calgary buds that Esa Tikkanen is auctioning of one of His 5 Stanley cup rings, and right away they went on the auction site to bid on a ring. Diehard Oiler fans right there.

We all pay our bill and go to our gate and the Admirals assistant says our plane gate changed. We are running late, and I can’t find Uncle Dunk. I’m panicking but laughing to because I’m use to this. I run back to gate B – 31 and he’s not there either. My new friends say call him, so I yell Uncle Dunk real loud. They laugh and say that they mean over the loud speaker. The front-line worker goes on the loud speaker and call for Uncle Dunk twice. No sign of him for 5 minutes. I look around again and eventually find him. Just like 30 years ago, we are running, this time not on the soccer pitch, but at the Denver Airport trying to catch our flight to Game 7 off the Stanley Cup final. That’s my assistant for you. We board the plane and arrive at Fort Lauderdale at 7 am.

June 24^th, 2024 (morning of Game 7)

Good morning from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and so I’m high on life because in 12 hours I’m going to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final. We grab our shared suitcase, pick up our rental car and meet Dallas at Hollywood beach. It’s beautiful but not even close to the beach I grew up on during the summers, called Savary Island. It’s the only Island on the Gulf that is East to West. All of the other islands are South to North. That’s why one side of Savary Island is sandy because the tides going in and out are leaving sand on the south beach of Savary. You need a boat to get there, so I recommend Lund water taxi.

Uncle Dunc and I then head to KJ Bird, and his lovely wife’s Shauna’s hotel in Sunrise located 10 min from the Amerant Bank Arena, home of the Florida Panthers. KJ invited us to stay with them. I met KJ 10 years ago in the Oils sands working and we kept in touch on Facebook. Another reason why I like Facebook is for keeping in touch with friends. KJ and his wife are doing really well but what I’m most impressed is that they are all about family. Respect big fella and Shauna.  KJ went to every Oilers game in the playoffs but one.  He loves his Oilers and if I could do that financially, I would too. I then crash for a few hours, since I couldn’t sleep on the plane because of the game. I woke up, went down to the pool and starting interviewing hockey fans from all around the world. It was really cool listening to their stories. Met a really cool dude from Minnesota. My assistant was sleeping, so Max helped me set up a panel for interviews.

Then Uncle Dunk, Max, KJ, and Shauna jumped in to our rental car and headed to bars near the arena. There must have been a 1000 Oilers fans in the bars at the mall 500 yards away from the rink. Only seen 3 Florida fans. It was crazy there. At 6:15 pm there was a Edmonton Oilers march to the rink. The crowd seemed confident but not cocky. There was a good vibe in the air. Entering the arena, I was nervous that I wouldn’t get in because of possible fraud tickets. We spent $4000 CAD for two seats so you can understand why I was nervous, and more importantly I would be disappointed to travel all this way and not end up seeing the Oilers play in the Stanley Cup Finals. Security was no problem, but it was a group effort getting my camera gear in, spreading out the equipment between all of us so it didn’t look so obvious.

We all go down to section 103 to watch the Oilers pre-game warmup. I think the music was cranked so you wouldn’t here the Oilers fans chanting. Looked like it was 50/50 for Panthers and Oilers fans. It was a really cool experience. After the warm up, we headed to our seats, which were great. They were aisle seats with a wall behind us. We stood up for the most of the game. The teams come out, and the crowd go wild. The national anthems were sung by Alanis Morissette but the crowd proudly sang along to Oh Canada first, and the Star-Spangled Banner. Not sure if the US National anthem has ever been sung by the fans like that, but I think the Florida fans wanted to outperform the Canadians. They did amazing job to by the way, it’s was really cool to see two countries be proud of where there from.

The puck drops

Florida is taking it to the Oilers and scored a well-deserved goal in the 3 minute mark by Carter Verhaeghe. The Oilers tied it up by a goal from Yanmark 3 minutes later but Florida were the better team by a far margin. It’s the first time I didn’t really feel confident in the playoffs this year. Tied after the first period.

2^nd period

Oilers had their chance, but again Florida was the better team overall for most of the game. Late in the 2^nd period, Edmonton had a really good chance to take the league, but as you would know as a hockey fan, you get a chance at one end, while the other team comes down and scores. That’s what exactly happens with break out season, Sam Reinhart scoring the game winner. What a season for Reinhart with 57 goals and the game winner in the Stanley Cup final! He’s a free agent so I bet he gets 10 million plus a year. Another reason Canadian teams have a less of a chance to win the cup is because of the salary cap. Imagine the Vancouver Canucks with another star player. If I was an NHL player, I would go anywhere where a team would take me at the beginning of my career, then as I got more leverage, I would chase the money. Florida would be a great destination because of the weather, more privacy, less tax and better chance lately to win the Cup because of the reasons just said. No brainer to me.

3^rd period

Few chances by both teams but Florida really shut down the Oilers. Very well coached and the best team defense in the league. Final score 2 to 1 for the Florida Panthers, and the 1^st time in their franchise, the Stanley Cup Champions are well deserved. What an experience following my boyhood team, the Edmonton Oilers in Willy’s Sports Talk first episode. It was just the timing for the show and it happened to be the Edmonton Oilers.

 I don’t take anything for granted like health, family, work and living my dream of starting Willys Sports Talk show, doing interviews of fans, past and present of athletes of any level. The show will keep you on your toes as well because there will be drones, beautiful settings, sports host guests and the most important the interviewers that will tell their story. I hope you enjoyed Chasing the Cup Blog. I sure did and please like, share and subscribe to keep my dream alive.

Love, William