Oilers fans pumped for the playoffs, despite pandemic restrictions

Diehard Oilers fans are gearing up for another playoff run, this time during a pandemic.

The orange-and-blue will facethe Winnipeg Jets in their first game of Round 1. The game gets underway at 7 p.m. MT Wednesday at Rogers Place.

Edmonton is known for catching playoff fever, but this year there will be no fans in the stands, no outdoor big public gatherings and the bars are closed due to pandemic restrictions.

That won't stop Ben Makus and his two sons, Mateo and Braylon, who are all set for a deep playoff run this spring.

"We have a little gazebo with a fire table," said Makus, who has turned his backyard deck into a mini-outdoor man cave for the playoffs.

"I purchased a 35-foot HDMI cable to run the TV out there," said Makus, who spent most of the 2017 Oilers playoff run watching games in the bar or at Rogers Place.

"It's definitely going to be different this year," he said. "You're going to be hearing people yelling and screaming from their backyards, houses, and stuff like that. But I think it'll still be fun, and we might even let the kids stay up extra late to experience it all."

Many people won't let the pandemic stop them from having fun, though mostly in their own homes.

"If the Oilers can get a couple of wins, this could really blow up into something," said Kelly Hodgson, manager of United Sport and Cycle."I certainly think this one has the potential to get a lot of social media exposure, because everyone is going to be wanting to tell everyone what they're doing at home."

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Kelly said the store has been selling Oilers gearnon-stop, including hats and jerseys and flags.

"At any given moment there's half a dozen fans in our fan shop area, and a lot of them are on the phone, or on the text. 'Hey, should I get beads, should I get wigs, what should I get?' So, yeah, it could be fun."

Bars next to Rogers Place and right across the city will be missing out on some much-needed income.

The pandemic has hurt the hospitality industry over the last 14 months. Add tothat missed revenue from the playoffs, and it's a double whammy.

"It really would have made our year," said James Der, operations manager at On The Rocks, which has been closed since November 2020.

"Normally at this point in time we'd be scrambling to get all our specials and making sure we had enough product in house."

During the 2017 playoff run, he said, the bar was packed with fans three to four nights a week.

When the games ended,the lineup would go around the corner outside the bar.

That won't be the case this time around, but Der is holding out hope for a long Oilers run.

"We're kind of hoping the first series goes seven games, or as long as possible, and the Oilers win. That'll get us closer to an opening date in possibly June."