After losing in last night's crushing game seven to the Florida Panthers, the Edmonton Oilers' Cinderella run has come to an end. They lost the Stanley Cup Final with a score of just 2-1, and their championship dreams (along with Canada's) have been shattered.
Among the Oilers roster that lost this game is Oakville’s own Evan Bouchard. Even though the team lost, Bouchard broke the all-time playoff assists record by a defenceman in one playoff year.
Bouchard, like many other Oilers last night, had several chances to earn the equalizing mark in the game - but just came up short and couldn't get to the net.
This feeling obviously doesn't feel great for Bouchard and his team, but the Oilers should not be disappointed in their effort nor the results that they produced in these playoffs.
Edmonton fought valiantly both during these playoffs and several hard series’ that they ended up winning. Most notably, they should look back at their seven game series in round two against the Vancouver Canucks with pride, where the team won the final game by a score of 3-2.
The Oilers also nearly completed what would have been the greatest comeback in NHL history: the team was down 3-0 in the series and pushed the series to game seven and nearly won. It goes to show that every goal counts.
On a personal level, Bouchard's playoff assists record by a defenceman is also worth commemorating. The Oilers represented Canada proud in this Stanley Cup Final and nearly brought the trophy back to Canada.
Hopefully next year, the Cup can (finally) find its way back home.