SFO777

Off to Edmonton for 16 hours and Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals

I love going to cool sporting events all over the world. In the last couple of years I’ve enjoyed LSU/Alabama, ManCity/United, Nuggets and Avs championships and the F1 Singapore Grand Prix. So when the Oilers beat Florida in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals, I figured that Game 6 in Edmonton would be so worth attending. And what a great choice it was... great game, beautiful arena and passionate dare I say crazy fans.

Fortunately, there were two seats left on the 11am Friday United nonstop. Unfortunately, I'm back to awful DIA. Security at 9:30am was much better than at 6am. Not much of a line at CLEAR+



Descending into the special hell that is DIA.



With no tunnel walkway between terminal, you just wait.



Sure, let's just take a train out of service.



The sardine can that is the DIA train service. Oh and the escalators weren't working at the B gates. LOL



The line into the United Club.



So many people in the United Club, that I just left and headed out for the long, long trek to the end of the world terminal.



Denver DEN to Edmonton YEG
United UA2308
A320
11:21a-2:03p
June 21, 2024

Not an elite-heavy route to say the least, so I was pretty much one of the first to preboard.





Nice bulkhead legroom.



Planning my afternoon.





Lunch time. Southwest chorizo spiced quinoa salad with crumbled spiced chorizo, quinoa, black bean, roasted corn salsa, grated Cotija cheese and grilled chicken with a chipotle ranch dressing. Meh, at least we're over 900 miles and are spared the pathetic United snack basket. And by all means, just be lazy and bring the drinks and nuts with the meal.





Almost lie flat. LOL.



YEG is not exactly a large airport, so between our flight and a Westjet arrival from LAS, there were few pax walking to immigration.







My NEXUS is still valid until the end of the year and I was out in no time. Pretty cool baggage carousel display in this hockey-mad city.

SFO777

I decided to rent a car since my Hyatt Place hotel was on the west side of the city, and with my Avis discount, the rental was cheaper than one way taxi/Uber to downtown. After dropping my bag off at the Hyatt, I headed downtown arriving around 4pm some 2 hours prior to game time, and found a parking garage right across the street from Rogers Place. And only USD $14 Wow, I'd pay $50-$100 in Denver for close in Game 6 parking.





Thousands of people packing the nearby entertainment area.





This was the crazy line for beer. OMG. And everyone was so calm and polite.



OK, now that's the way to get to the game!



Gates opened at 4:30pm so I arrived a few minutes before they opened.





I bought my ticket yesterday afternoon on StubHub and got a single row 1 seat inside the Sportnet Club, on the Loge/Suite level.



It's a little far from the ice but seriously cool front row seating.



And a great view.



Really cool Oilers memorabilia from Championship seasons past.





Unlimited food and non-alcoholic beverages were included. Food options were extensive and very tasty.









Full service and wait staff service at your seats.













Pork ribs and beef tacos were delicious.



And wonderful Alberta beef prime rib.



Getting ready. Apparently we need two zambonis to do a proper job.

SFO777

Game 6

My only other Game 6 experience was in Cleveland when the Cavs beat the Warriors on the way to their first and only NBA Championship. The atmosphere here was just as electric.



Stirring national anthem performance... by 18,000+ fans.



And we're off.



Oilers score first. Great time-out entertainment.



Oilers score again and are up 2-0.



Gotta love the unapologetic "This is Oil Country" slogan. Climate activists nowhere to be seen in conservative Alberta.



Panthers scored to make it 2-1 but a gutsy coach's challenge ruled the play offside.





Now 3-0 Oilers.



After the 2nd period, dessert...





In the 3rd period, Panthers score to cut the lead to 3-1, but a couple of late empty net goals sealed the deal for the Oilers.



Ouch.







18,000 happy fans celebrating the Oilers win.













What a fun day and such a treat to experience the game with rabid Oiler fans.

glasman19

SFO7777 what a sweet game to attend! My home town is an Oilers feeder and watched Jay Woodcroft coach to many a win. When he was called up to Edmonton I was in hopes he’d do the same there. This season, the players were there and Edmonton, IMO pulled the plug early on him. That’s pro sports for you. Should be an excited game on Monday. Florida in a blowout. (No, I’m not bitter)😂

theshaun

What a great experience! The food options in the Club section look really good. Far better than I've had in Canucks private suites.
It's really cool how Canada is getting behind the team despite who we might support during the regular season. Did you grow up much of hockey fan? Les Habitants?

SFO777

Thanks so much glasman19. I hadn't realized until Friday that the Oilers were floundering early in the season. Oilers fans seem to love what Knoblauch has done. Dunno about Monday. Oilers are on a roll and the Panthers are reeling. Besides, there is no reason anyone should be playing hockey in South Florida anyway.

It was so cool being there. It's been 30+ years since a Canadian team has won the Stanley Cup so it's understandable that all of Canada would be cheering for the Oilers... except maybe in Calgary. . I did see a report that Timmy's in Calgary were serving Oilers donuts. Apparently that didn't over well. LOL. Loved hockey growing up in Montreal, but for some strange reason I was a Bruins fan. Made my youthful life miserable when the Habs would beat the Bruins all the time.

SFO777

Heading back home to Denver

Unfortunately, the 6am United Denver nonstop was sold out in all classes, so I took the next best option, a Vancouver connection. I got less than 2 hours sleep and was up at 3am to shower and head to the airport. Not much traffic and I made it in 30 minutes.



My NEXUS got me priority security, and this morning private security.







I was thru so fast that the lounges hadn't even opened.





The Maple Leaf Lounge opened at 4:30am.



Comfy but nothing special.





Very attactive business center centre.



Pretty weak food offerings as usual for AC.







At T-45 I headed down to nearby Gate 50. Whoa, boarding reminiscent of your average United cluster.



Edmonton YEG to Vancouver YVR
Air Canada AC231
738MAX (7M8)
6:00am-6:38am
June 22, 2024



Very nice interior on a 5 year old MAX.



Smart woman to get out of the way. LOL.















Excellent service from a great cabin crew this morning, especially personable Vicky. This Air Canada breakfast hasn't change in 30-40 years.









A most enjoyable flight... unlike my next one on United.

SFO777

Enduring Vancouver International and United

This is one mess of an airport. Getting from the domestic gates to the transborder gates is a long, long haul. Fortunately, there were plenty of Global Entry kiosks in the CBP preclearance area.

Then there is Air Canada which doesn't believes in any Maple Leaf Lounge signage in the transborder wing.



Once I found the place, a reasonable comfy lounge.





Even better when I found this little private room,



And the usual Air Canada non-food.





United and American get the absolute dregs of the transborder wing.





Vancouver YVR to Denver DEN
United UA640
Ancient 737-800
8:35am-12:33pm
June 22, 2024

Easy pre-board with few elites again this morning.



Today's well worn 25 year old Continental plane.









Advertised as quiche, it wasn't even close.



Then there was the crew. Captain declared the now all too frequent approach to Denver "we're going to die because of turbulence" announcement nearly 45 minutes from Denver and then " prepare to land" shortly thereafter. Of course there was no turbulence whatsoever but I'm sure that the crew appreciated and enjoyed extra time sitting, gossiping and playing with their iphones. Then there was the FA that, because we were 3 minutes late, asked everyone without a connection shorter than an hour, to sit and wait for those to deplane. Yeah, good luck on that one.



Despite the long, exhausting return to Denver, so happy that I was in Edmonton for an exciting Game 6 and amazing atmosphere.


For more pics and an HD version of this report, please visit SFO777.com
Off to Edmonton for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals via United
Oilers-Panthers Game 6 pregame
Oilers-Panthers Game 6
Air Canada Business Class to Vancouver
United Business Class to Denver

And for those into Instagram, my Instagram videos from the trip...

jbar91

Thank you for allowing us to live vicariously through you! Did you decide to head out to Florida for Game 7?

theshaun

Oof, that wing of the transborder is something special. A total armpit. But don't think I've ever boarded anything larger than a regional jet or dash 8 from there.
I'm off to YVR later today for my first domestic flight since 2019. I'll be guested in to the Maple Leaf Lounge. Curious to see how that plays out.

SFO777

Thanks very much jbar91. No, not going to Florida. I'm just a casual Oilers fan so I'll just watch at home. Plus I need to save up my travel passes for another day.

SFO777

Something special indeed.
Wow, first domestic flight in 5 years?
Have a nice trip.

VorelNaCestach

Thanks a lot for sharing all the photos from the stadium and the match! I did enjoy reading your TR. As a kid, I was a big fan of Panthers (and many others) but I’ve never seen their match live. A bit too far from Europe

SFO777

Thanks very much for your kind comments. Yeah, that'd be definitely be a long haul just to see the Panthers or any other NHL game, although not a bad weather escape in the winter.

curlingfan

Thanks for sharing the report. Sorry that the oilers lost