Saturday night’s game between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers is one that is well worth tuning into.
There is plenty of bad blood between these two teams, who have gone head-to-head in each of the past two Stanley Cup Finals. The Florida Panthers came out on top of both, winning the first in seven games and the second in six.
Those fierce battles would be more than enough to understand why these two teams don’t like each other, but there is an entirely different side to it.
After winning the Cup Final this past year, the Panthers fired several shots the Oilers’ way. Forward AJ Greer started a “f*ck the Oilers” chant while his team was out celebrating. There were also several players on the roster who helped organize a “f*ck McDavid” chant while out at a club with fans.
The Oilers are well aware of it all.
The Florida Panthers began a “F*ck McDavid” chant at their party. pic.twitter.com/m26By2yQNI
— YEGWAVE (@yegwave) June 20, 2025
“The [game] on Saturday is big. Not only that [the Oilers] have lost there twice, it brings back a lot of bad memories, but the Oilers as an organization were not happy with some of the post-celebration commentary from the Panthers,” Elliotte Friedman said on the 32 Thoughts podcast. “The Panthers, they really rubbed that second one in, they really did.”
Now, of course, this isn’t the same Panthers team right now, given that both Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov have yet to play this season due to injury. That said, several other agitating forces, such as Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett, are expected to suit up.
Adding a whole other element to this is the fact that the Oilers have struggled this season. They own just a 9-9-5 record through their first 23 games, which has them in sixth place in the Pacific Division. Perhaps a game like this gives them enough motivation to come out strong and get their season steered back in the right direction.
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