The Edmonton Oilers just made history for all the wrong reasons. Losing consecutive Stanley Cup Finals to the same opponent hasn’t happened in nearly five decades. Now, Edmonton carries that burden after falling to the Florida Panthers twice. The weight of those defeats isn’t just about trophies anymore. It’s about what happens when a team stops enjoying the game they’re paid to play.
What’s Wrong With the Edmonton Oilers?
The Oilers are the first team to lose back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals to the same opponent in nearly 50 years. The Boston Bruins lost to the Montreal Canadiens in 1977 and 1978. This history wasn’t repeated until Edmonton most recently lost the Stanley Cup in back-to-back fashion against Florida in six games.
The Cup Final rematch started promisingly enough. Edmonton took the first game at home in overtime. Still, the Panthers responded with two straight wins, including a double-overtime thriller. The Oilers tied the series back up with an overtime Game 4 victory, setting up another classic finish.
Instead, Florida secured the championship by taking Games 5 and 6 with a combined score of 10-3. That lopsided finish left Edmonton facing a question beyond losing: How bad is it that the Oilers lost the Stanley Cup Final in back-to-back years?
Has Edmonton Lost Its Identity under the Pressure?
According to Jason Gregor, co-host of the Daily Faceoff podcast, the Oilers have lost the notion of fun while playing in the NHL.
“The biggest issue for fans is the goalie, because it’s the easiest one to go after. Stuart Skinner, I don’t think he actually even played that poorly in the Stanley Cup final. The Oilers just lost to a team that played better than they did at every position.”
“I don’t think Stuart Skinner outplayed [Sergei] Bobrovsky by any stretch of the imagination. But I don’t believe that he was the main reason why they lost games five and six. He’s not as good as Bobrovsky at this stage of his career. Is he better than Bobrovsky earlier on? Who knows? We’ll see.”
“But if I have to set the biggest issue for the Oilers, I’m actually going to go off the board here. I think the Oilers organisation right now, I’m really in their room. They’re a very serious group. You can’t win the cup in October. You can’t win it in December. You can lose it by having a terrible run, and they haven’t done that. But I wonder if they ever really have any fun, right?”
“There’s such a serious group. And, I think that there’s so much internal pressure to win now because they’ve lost twice. And I understand it. You don’t want to lose twice, obviously not. But I would say the biggest issue for them is being able to exhale a little bit and enjoy the process, rather than always thinking that every decision you make is all about June. I would say that is the issue,” Gregor said on Wednesday’s edition of the podcast.
The historical context makes Edmonton’s situation even more unique. Since the start of the expansion era in the 1967-68 season, there have been just two additional instances of the same team losing at least two Cup Finals in a row.
There was the Boston Bruins (as previously mentioned) during Montreal’s four-peat from 1976-79. Then, there was also the St. Louis Blues, who lost to the Canadiens in 1968 and 1969 before falling to the Bruins in 1970.
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— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) July 16, 2025
The Oilers open play against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday, October 8, 2025.
