Did You Know
The '''Edmonton Oilers''' are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The Edmonton Oilers are part of the Northwest Division in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Oilers have won the Stanley Cup on five occasions, in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1990. The team was founded on November 1, 1971, and played its first season in 1972 as one of twelve founding franchises of the major professional World Hockey Association (WHA). Notably, the team was renamed the Alberta Oilers when the Calgary Broncos, a fellow WHA founding franchise in Alberta, relocated to Cleveland, Ohio. The team returned to the name Edmonton Oilers the following year. The Oilers joined the NHL in 1979 as one of four franchises introduced through the merger with the WHA. The Edmonton Oilers are the sole remaining WHA team in-place.
The Oilers were the dominant team of the 1980s achieving the most recent "dynasty" status as honored by the NHL Hockey Hall of Fame. The team collected five Stanley Cups and six conference titles in a 21-team league over seven years led by, among others, Wayne Gretzky. The team's greatest success since the dynasty era was a run to Game Seven of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals.
The Oilers have an intense rivalry with the Calgary Flames, a part of the Battle of Alberta that has manifested throughout Alberta sports history, and in the NHL since the Flames' relocation from Atlanta in 1980. In recent years, The Oilers have also developed another intense rivalry with the Vancouver Canucks.
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