Why Hamilton should be cheering for the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL playoffs

Canada's dream of bringing the Stanley Cup back home took a major hit last weekend, with both the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens getting bounced from the NHL playoffs.

Most hockey fans in this part of the country would be cheering for either the Habs or the Leafs, with some outliers (like long-suffering Jets fans, Canucks fans who are going down with the shipor Flames fans shaking their heads over their team's first round sweep).

But if your team is out and you're looking for a squad to cheer for look no further.

Hamilton, you should be cheering for the Edmonton Oilers.

Here's why.

Cam Talbot

On a team featuring a legit superstar in Connor McDavid, Caledonia's Cam Talbot might be Edmonton's MVP.

Talbot started a staggering 73 games for the Oilers this year. That's over 89 per cent of the team's total games, and the most in the entire NHL by a wide margin.

He put up respectable numbers, too, with a .919 save percentage and a 2.39 goals against average.

Talbot even broke hall of fame legend Grant Fuhr's record for most wins in a single season all time by an Edmonton Oiler.

For a team that has had a rough time finding dependable goaltending in recent years, Talbot has been a revelation.

Darnell Nurse

Hamilton's Darnell Nurse was the seventh overall selection from the 2013 draft, and that standing came with expectations of an immediate impact on a blueline that had been less than stellar in recent years.

Nurse is exactly the kind of player hockey purists love exceptionally tough, tons of grit in his game, and doesn't back down from anyone.

While he's not putting up points like some on Edmonton's defence, Nurse is an important part of a much-improved Oilers blueline.

A blue-collar town

Think about it Edmonton's team is called the Oilers for a reason. If Hamilton ever got an NHL team (don't hold your breath) they' might have a steel-based team name.

That blue-collar identity is deeply interwoven in Edmonton's identity, just like Hamilton's.

And much like Hamilton, the city has dealt with hardships when it comes to that industry. The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers calculates there have been more than 50,000 announced layoffs in the oilpatch since 2014, though things have started to rebound.

Both cities have had to reinvent themselves to some degree in recent years, sothere's lots of parallelsthere.

Honourable mention: Ryan Ellis, P.K. Subbanand the Nashville Predators

We'd be remiss if we didn't mention Ryan Ellis. He's having a phenomenal season with the Nashville Predators, and he has raised thousands for playgrounds in Hamilton's urban areas. His teammate P.K. Subbanspent a season in Hamilton with the AHL Bulldogs too.

Lets hope these two teams meet in the western conference final.