The Second Coming of McJesus: For Canadian hockey fans today is like being a kid on Christmas morning

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals will be a Ton-of-fun in Edmonton

By Ashley Sutherland and Paul J. Henderson

Canadian hockey fans with jobs are probably not getting a lot of work done today as they anticipate with excitement what is expected to be the sporting equivalent of Muhammad Ali versus Joe Frazier in the Philippines in 1975. 

While the Ali-Frazier III fight was dubbed the Thrilla in Manila, it’s gonna be a Ton-of-fun in Edmonton when the Panthers meet the Oilers for game one of the 2025 Stanley Cup finals Wednesday.

This is a rematch of two NHL heavyweights with Florida looking to win its second straight cup in three straight appearances while Edmonton and Connor McDavid are hoping to bring hockey’s Holy Grail back to Canada for the first time since Guy Carbonneau did it in Montreal in 1993.

Oiler fans are confident. But there are questions.

Will Evander Kane and Corey Perry fill the gap lost by an injured Zach Hyman?

Is Mattias Ekholm fully fit?

Which Stuart Skinner will show up? Every time an Oiler fan or pundit says Skinner looks different this year, there seems to be a sense of doubt simmering below the surface.

Game one has as much hype as anyone can stand, and the story lines are many. It boils down to this: Can a team that is perfectly built to win playoff games stop the best player to ever play the game from hoisting the Stanley Cup?

McJesus will do it or will almost die trying. 

Never has game one meant so much

Sure, on paper the Panthers should win. Run this series five times over (we wish) and Florida walks away the winner in four of them. At every position they have playoff DNA and they do all the little things right. 

But – and it’s a big but – this series is not being played in a vacuum or mapped out on paper. This Stanley Cup series kicks off in Edmonton and it will be like nothing seen before, which is saying a lot given the history of the Oilers.

McJesus is on a mission and game one is a must win. Give up home ice to this Florida team and it’s over, simple as that.

Not only is winning game one important, the first period of game one is so important it’ll have fans shaking in their blue and orange jerseys. McDavid is going to be flying, but he can only play so many minutes. Will his drive and motor carry his teammates to the next level? They’ll all need to hit a higher gear to beat the Panthers in a seven-game series and undo what happened last year.

Even fans who don’t like the Star-Spangled Banner will not want to miss the national anthems tonight because as soon as that puck drops, the first five minutes of the first period of this game is going to be the most important hockey any of these Oilers will ever play. 

That first 300 seconds sets the tone for the period, the game, and the series.

Buckle up, it’s gonna be great.

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Paul J. Henderson
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