Murray Hill with his Oilers-adorned truck in Red Deer. (rdnewsNOW/Jordan Rein)

By Jordan Rein and Josh Hall | @Vancan19

a game day, "i do"

Badge of honour: Central Alberta Oilers superfans reveling in Stanley Cup Final hype

Jun 8, 2024 | 10:38 AM

By the time a team gets to the Stanley Cup Final, superfans of all kinds have come out of the woodwork.

For the Edmonton Oilers, who square off against the Florida Panthers starting Saturday, that includes crazily hyped-up fans in Red Deer and around central Alberta.

Red Deer’s Murray Hill, who’s been driving around his Oilers-adorned truck religiously for a few weeks now, is one of them.

“This run and driving the truck have been extremely exciting. I love bringing joy to others around town, and hopefully they get as much joy out of it as I do,” says Hill, who predicts the Oilers will bring the Cup home in six games.

“Everywhere I go, people are taking pictures and videos, giving me the thumbs up, honking or yelling ‘Go Oilers.'”

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Hill had the oil derrick built by a friend for his truck four years ago, and has installed it every year during the playoffs. He painted the truck’s orange trim himself.

Out in Blackfalds, Robert Herr’s basement looks like the things Oilers fans’ wildest dreams are made of.

Count them, 47 jerseys, and countless other pieces of memorabilia, all of it signed, he says.

(Supplied)

For Herr, the title of superfan is a badge of honour, especially given how much time, effort and of course money has gone into piecing such a room together.

“I didn’t expect this run to happen this year, especially when the team started out so bad. But, they’ve been the best team in the league since November,” he points out, going back to the subject of his basement.

“Everything in there is orange and blue, plus I’ve got a bar set-up, multiple TVs and everything.”

Herr, whose favourite memory is Dave Lumley’s insurance goal with 13 seconds left in game five of the 1984 Cup Final, the one that ended the Islanders dynasty, is also in the thick of it when it comes to being superstitious.

“I used to wear these McDavid socks on game days, but I didn’t have a very good record doing that. I found if I wear them the day before a game though, the record is pretty good,” he explains.

“I went to my first game in 1978 when they were still playing in the WHA. It was against the Quebec Nordiques and I’ve been a fan ever since.”

(Supplied)

In a funny twist of fate, Herr and his fiancée Tammy are getting married Saturday, an hour before puck drop. The wedding date was set in January, so there was no way to know it’d fall on the series’ opening day, but it will all work out, he says.

“We have sand on the tables that’ll be blue, orange and white, some of our cake will be Oilers colours, the invites had Oilers colours on them, and I’ll be wearing an Oilers tie,” he says.

“I told our Justice of the Peace the other day, because our BBQ starts at 2 p.m. and the vows are at 5, with the game at 6, that the vows have to be really quick.”

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