When was the last time the Edmonton Oilers won a Stanley Cup? How many have they won?

The Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers - two teams who couldn’t be more different for a variety of reasons, meet to contest this year’s Stanley Cup. Geographically poles apart - 4,000 kilometers separate the two NHL franchises; on the one hand we have an historic team - one of the the twelve founding franchises of the former World Hockey Association (WHA), and on the other, a relative newcomer, debuting when the league was expanded to 26 teams in 1993 (along with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim).

Knoblauch performs miracles with the Oilers

Kris Knoblauch’s Oliers and Paul Maurice’s Panthers also play very contrasting styles of ice hockey. Knoblauch has managed to turn around what could very easily have turned into a disappointing campaign for Edmonton. He replaced Jay Woodcroft in November, tasked with transforming a team that has lost 10 of the first 13 games. Since then, they’ve been practically unbeatable, finishing the regular season second in the Pacific on 49-27-6 - no other team won as many games, with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins contributing 91 goals and 214 assists between them.

They continued that form into the playoffs, eliminating Los Angeles, Vancouver and Dallas while on the other side of the bracket, the Panthers saw off Tampa Bay, Boston and the Rangers. In terms of scoring, Florida are way behind the Oilers but to their credit, they have one of the tightest defenses in the league, and that could could be key to their chances of lifting their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

The Panthers have made it to the final twice - losing to Colorado Avalanche in 1996 and Vegas Golden Knights last year.

The Oilers in search of their sixth title

By contrast, this will be the eighth time the Oilers have contested the cup since their first appearance in 1983. The last time the Oilers lifted the trophy seems like a long time ago. In 1989–90, John Muckler’s Oilers faced the Boston Bruins in a rematch of the 1988 final which Edmonton won 4-0. En route to the final, the Oilers defeated the Winnipeg Jets (4–3), Los Angeles Kings (4–0) and Chicago Blackhawks (4–2).

Game 1 at Boston Garden on 15 May 1990, went to triple-overtime. Petr Klima hit the decider after over 115 minutes of play, making it one of the longest games in NHL history and the longest in the final even to this day. Three days later the Oilers made shorter work of it, winning 7-2 before the series moved to Northlands Coliseum. Rookie John Byce gave Boston an early lead and Greg Johnston made it 2-0 with a minute left of the first period. The Bruins hung on to win 2-1 and take Game 3.

The Oilers won the next game 4-1 to put themselves a win away from the title. At Boston Garden, they took Game 5 to secure the trophy for the fifth time - the first time they had done so on the road. Oilers goaltender Bill Ranford, deputizing for injury-hit Grant Fuhr, was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy - quite a feat seeing as his playoff experience had been limited to just four games before Fuhr was sidelined with a shoulder injury.

Since then, there has been just two final appearances - in 2006 when the team lost 3-4 to the Hurricanes and this series against the Panthers.

The 2023-24 Stanley Cup series between the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers starts on Saturday 8 June at the Amerant Bank Arena, getting underway at 8:00 p.m. local time.