The Edmonton Oilers have punched their tickets to the 2023-24 Stanley Cup Finals with their WCF Game 6 win against the Dallas Stars. Following the win, Oilers’ Zach Hyman commented on being ‘Canada’s team’ left in the tournament.
When asked if they are carrying any ‘additional pressure’ on having fans of other Canadian teams supporting the Oilers in the Stanley Cup Finals, Hyman cheekily mentioned the Maple Leafs fans.
“Well, I don’t know if Toronto’s cheering for us, but nice to hear Ottawa is,” Hyman said.
He also mentioned that it had been a long time since a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup. Hyman believed that winning the Cup would mean a lot to Canadians, regardless of whether they were Oilers fans.
Fans were quick to react to Zach Hyman’s comments on the internet. Some fans criticized Hyman for unnecessarily mentioning the Leafs fanbase.
Following are some fan reactions from X/Twitter:
“Hahaha. It’s like Hyman’s engaged to be married, but he’s still thinking about his ex. 🤷🏼♂️#rentfree #leafsforever”
“Hyman is so annoying…he used to be humble but he has a tinge of arrogance now,” commented one fan.
Some Leafs fans made it clear that they were indeed not supporting the Oilers.
“He’s right. We don’t want Oilers to win. Why would we, we want the pride we don’t want the other Canadian teams, who are our biggest rivals to get it,” commented one user.
“Nobody in Western Canada other than Edmonton is cheering for Edmonton either,” wrote one fan.
Meanwhile, a few fans voiced their support for Hyman and the Oilers. With Toronto Maple Leafs being his former team, some Leafs fans also rallied behind the player.
“I’m cheering for Hyman. He was great as a leaf and he’s great as an oiler. The leafs really made a huge mistake ever letting this guy go,” one user commented.
“Why do Canadian hockey fans not cheer for other Canadian teams? I’m a Leafs fan, but rooting for the Oilers, as they’re the only Canadian team left,” one fan wrote.
Zach Hyman shares childhood story of aspiring to play in front of Edmonton crowd
When asked his feelings on playing in front of the electrifying Oilers crowd, Hyman described how during one of his postgame interviews, the noise from the crowd was so deafening that he couldn’t hear the questions being asked.
“I mean, I was doing an interview after, I couldn’t even hear the questions it was so loud,” Zach Hyman said. “Like, um, this is one of the reasons I wanted to come here.”
He then recounted a story of watching the Edmonton crowd cheer passionately for the Oilers from his childhood:
“I remember as a kid watching Edmonton and Carolina and my brothers and I were like, ‘Oh, this building is crazy, like it is the loudest building we’ve ever seen on TV.’ And I vividly remember talking to my brother Spence about it when we signed, like, ‘Man, I hope we get an opportunity to go to the Stanley Cup Final in front of these fans.’”
“And, I mean, it was crazy loud for game six for the closeout game, and I expect it to be bonkers. I mean, it’s going to be wild, and this is why you come to a market like this, to play in front of fans like this. This is what you dream of, everyone’s cheering Oilers,” Hyman added.
It will be interesting to see the crowd tear through the roof in the upcoming Stanley Cup Finals.
