With US-based teams having won the Stanley Cup for the past 31 years, Canada's luxury train journey operator, Rocky Mountaineer, is offering the Edmonton Oilers players a special Western Canada rail tour incentive if they can win their best-of-seven matchup against the Florida Panthers and bring the Cup back to Canada.
When the teams hit the ice on 08JUN, it will have been 31 years since the Montreal Canadians defeated the Los Angeles Kings to win their 24th Stanley Cup. Since then, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton have made it to the finals only to fall to their American opponents.
As the last Canadian team standing, the Oilers have captivated the nation. Hockey fans from coast to coast are hopping on the Edmonton bandwagon as the team seeks to restore Canadian hockey pride by winning the oldest professional sports trophy in North America.
"Hockey is Canada's game, the Cup came from Canada and it's high time we won it back," says Tristan Armstrong, CEO of Rocky Mountaineer.
"As a proud Canadian company known for showcasing our part of Canada to tourists from around the world, we are cheering on the Oilers in the Stanley Cup finals. We look forward to celebrating the Cup victory for Canada by offering each Oilers player, and their significant other, a luxury journey onboard Rocky Mountaineer."
The victory tour would start with a celebratory send-off in Edmonton, followed by community celebrations when the players arrive in Jasper, Kamloops, and Vancouver.
In addition to showcasing the natural beauty of Western Canada, the Rocky Mountaineer tour would be a stylish salute to the days when NHL teams travelled between cities aboard sleek Pullman train cars and the Stanley Cup rarely left home. The players would travel aboard glass-dome coaches with spectacular views of the snow-capped Rockies, the Interior region of beautiful B.C., and the lush forests of the Fraser Valley.
"Canada winning the Stanley Cup after more than three decades would be a historic achievement. We look forward to celebrating a Stanley Cup win and recognizing the incredible feats of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and the rest of the team with an unforgettable and quintessentially Canadian experience onboard Rocky Mountaineer," said Armstrong.
