Oilers Frenzy!!

That's right folks, the Oilers are still alive! Game 7 here we come! SHUTOUT!! 4-0 for the good guys!
Nancy, one of my good friends from UBC, is out in Edmonton for a wedding and is staying at my place this weekend. She got to experience the frenzy and fervor of Oilers fans. We took her out to Whyte Ave after the game and took pictures of the highlights. This is Garrett, Li and Nancy (green jacket). Some guys in a car with a Stanley Cup mock-up. The traffic was gridlocked. Shortly after this photo they shut down the street to traffic. See the traffic. All backed up. I am on the right, wearing the Pronger shirt. This particular Oilers fan has strapped a giant stuffed moose to his back. Why? I have no idea. But Garrett and I have seen him and his moose around before. Just one of the Whyte Avenue sights, I suppose. This man in the white shirt and snappy hat is the Edmonton Police Chief. He walked by us to the command center (a curling rink a few blocks from the action). After he passed us we realized we should have asked for a picture with him, but he was walking too fast and got too far away, so we just took a picture of his back. Figured a group of us running after the Police Chief might look bad. Whyte Avenue crowds. You can see the back of my head in the middle of the above picture. The cops won't let you step off the curb at all so we all just pack onto the sidewalk until you can't go anywhere. One of Edmonton's finest...riot policemen. These guys were scary - big men, with lots of body protection, bobby sticks (are they called this in Canada? Riot sticks? hmm) and Zap-Strap handcuffs galore. We tried to get a good picture of the riot guys, but since they were scary, we didn't want to anger them. We tried to get one in the background of the next picture: You still can't see very well, and after 3 or 4 tries we were told to 'Move along now folks'. Because apparently you're not allowed to stand around on Whyte Ave now. And take pictures of riot police. Hmmm. (Sorry about the picture Sarah, eyes are closed, but it's all I had).Oh yea, they brought in the dogs too. What are they going to do? Sick them on us??!! The doggies are so cute, but you know what they can do - chew on your arm!! Scary. Is this really what it takes to control Edmonton crowds? Geez, Time to head home. We took the side street to avoid the crowd. Home safe! Phew! No tickets for jaywalking or arrests for open alcohol for us. Just good clean documentation via digital camera.