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Just not. The Oilers lost 1:3 (the last being an empty net goal so kind of 1:2). That was just not their day. But I mean if you virtually start the match with 0:1 (after two minutes or so), miss two top chances right after the first break and if you later on in that period have a two man advantage and use it for conceding a time penalty instead of scoring... So sad. Here’s a picture of our institute’s Oiler’s cheerleader, Sylwia, taken yesterday. (And to prevent that sort of remarks: No! She’s married and has a 6-years old daughter.)

I wonder what the city’s security policy would have been if they had won. Remember my remarks on not being allowed to cross the street on Saturday. Sylwia yesterday told me that the plan was not to prevent people from crossing as such, it was the authorities’ concept of celebration! They meant people to walk on Whyte Ave in a circle, a pedestrian-corso as a form of celebration. Seriously, who had the idea that anyone wants to celebrate like that? Are they Germans? Well no, because even our archfriend to the north discovered about 60 years ago that marching is not the nicest form of celebrating and having a good time. And as stupid that concept may be I’m very glad that I silently accepted their stupidity and wasn’t stupid enough to answer their stupidity by the stupid attempt of crossing the street. I read in the newspaper that by 10pm (just one hour after the match had ended) police on Whyte Ave had already arrested more than a hundred people! Among the arrested offenders were evil people who had committed such felonies as setting a foot on the road or drinking alcohol on the pavement. Gosh they do have some problems here - that policy sounds like a mix of Peking’s Forbidden City and Saudi Arabia!

Apart from that there isn’t much to say about yesterday. In the end I decided to go to the Powerplant but I didn’t particularly like the atmosphere. It felt as if there were too many people who didn’t really care about the game but just wanted to get drunk and show how good they’re in celebrating. You know that dramaticly exaggerated scenes at the end of those American movies, when the hero(ine) delivers his fantastic speech in front of a potentially hostile audience and after (s)he ends it’s silent for a moment and then one person stands up and applauds and then a second joins and finally everybody – including the hero(ine)’s evil opponents – applaud? It was a bit as if some people wanted to be in that position. You could see girls whispering to each other and than suddenly screaming “Oilers” in the hope that the hall would join them and they could feel as (cheer)leaders. It was a lot of noise, but noise without heart. At least that’s how I felt it. So I left after the second period and joined Lilla and David at his flat. And as this photo documents at least one person in Edmonton yesterday “won” the trophy he desired (but even that hasn’t arrived safely at home yet..)

Another thing I had already realised on Saturday was that watching the match confirmed what I said about being a fan. Of course I clapped and cheered and gave high fives to Andrew when they scored. But I was mainly imitating what everybody else did. Feelings within me? When England scored against Trinidad Tobago on Thursday, how unimportant that match may have been in comparison to the Oilers’ – the inner joy was so much truer. I mean of course I wanted to see the Oilers win. After all Edmonton is my home for the next half year so I feel some loyalty to the city and I want the people around to be happy. And of course it’s cool to be in the middle of historic events and experience their, eh, pedestrian-corso-celebrations. Whatever, in a sense it was easier to feel with them yesterday, to share disappointment and sadness, because those I really felt. What a pity..

Anyway the season’s over, so you can be quite sure I won’t bore you with ice hockey anymore. Do I hear sighs of relief? Don’t be too happy too early – Soccer World Cup is still continuing over the next two and a half weeks! Only two and a half weeks left, oh my goodness, what am I going to write about afterwards? But don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll find some other exiting sport events to report, for example the Edmonton Moose Race (You think Pamplona’s worth a trip? Ha!), the Alberta Magpie Hunt and the All-Canadian Grizzly Rodeo. Not to forget about my own private competitions, the Woodlice-Killing Championship (Score since Sunday: 2) and the Caterpillar-Avoiding Slalom (penalty points since Sunday 0)...