Are Edmonton Oilers watch parties really one of the worst things going? As if

Move over, Moss Pit.

The Edmonton Oilers might be one of the two best teams this year, but apparently, the experience of watching doesn’t quite live up to expectations.

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If you aren’t one of the 18,347 lucky spectators in the stands for a game, but do the next best thing and gather among fellow fans for the watch parties surrounding Rogers Place, a new study suggests Edmontonians will be getting a subpar experience in next year’s playoffs.

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Some outfit called Time2play analyzed what they determined to be the key elements that “make an NHL watch party fun,” and ranked all 32 NHL teams based on fan engagement, local food and drink options, best weather and overall hype.

And guess what, Edmonton. The results aren’t great.

This city wouldn’t even make the playoff cut among the top half of teams. No, the Alberta capital appears all the way down in the bottom 10 of the rankings.

Or, as the study’s headline reads: “Oilers fans among the top 10 worst hosts for NHL watch parties.”

Sixth worst, in fact.

But, hey, it calls itself a study. And even uses words such as “methodology,” and “metrics.” And it has a press release and everything. So, let’s give it a chance here (after we remove tongue from cheek, that is).

“To create the NHL watch party index, the study analyzed a range of fan experience metrics, including average attendance, arena Google reviews, surrounding food and drink ratings, average local temperatures, fan hype around watch parties (search trends for each team’s watch parties and playoff drought length) to capture the sense of anticipation,” the study states.

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So far, it sounds about as convincing as your typical dirt-lot used car salesman. Maybe let’s just jump to the conclusion.

“According to the results, Edmonton Oilers fans came 27th in the rankings, scoring 23.9 out of 100, coming close to landing the title for worst watch party.”

Alright, let’s take a look at the list and see what fans are better:

Team/Watch Party Index Score (points)

1. Tampa Bay Lightning (62.5)
2. Washington Capitals (53.8)
3. Buffalo Sabres (52.7)
4. Anaheim Ducks (52.1)
5. Detroit Red Wings (47.1)
6. Columbus Blue Jackets (46.5)
7. Chicago Blackhawks (46.4)
8. Philadelphia Flyers (45.7)
9. New York Rangers (39.3)
10. Dallas Stars (38.9)
11. Nashville Predators (38.6)
12. Pittsburgh Penguins (38.4)
13. Seattle Kraken (37.9)
14. San Jose Sharks (36.2)
15. Florida Panthers (35.6)
16. Los Angeles Kings (33.3)
17. Vegas Golden Knights (33.0)
18. Vancouver Canucks (32.8)
19. Minnesota Wild (32.7)
20. Calgary Flames (30.4)
21. Boston Bruins (29.2)
22. Toronto Maple Leafs (28.3)
23. Colorado Avalanche (28.2)
24. Montreal Canadiens (25.7)
25. New Jersey Devils (25.4)
26. St. Louis Blues (25.4)
27. Edmonton Oilers (23.9)
28. Carolina Hurricanes (23.4)
29. Utah Mammoth (23.4)
30. Winnipeg Jets (22.6)
31. New York Islanders (22.3)
32. Ottawa Senators (18.2)

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The study cites Edmonton landing in the bottom three with an average temperature of 2 C as a major deterrent, not realizing that’s absolutely balmy compared to what we get here throughout the regular season.

Combine that with being ranked 11th for food and drink options based on Google reviews of venues within a 15-minute walk of the arena — which they actually called a stadium, in case you were wondering about the legitimacy of it all — and we get what we get.

Oh, the study didn’t feel the need to explain how seven of the top 10, and 11 of the top 15 teams didn’t even make the postseason this year, which you would think might make for a pretty important factor in determining the overall effectiveness of a playoff watch party. Like, how much fun would an imaginary watch party be anyway?

Is this watch party in the room with us right now? Can other people see this watch party?

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Here are some takeaways of Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday, where the Florida Panthers won 6-1 to take a 2-1 series lead over the Oilers:

READ MORE

The Oilers never expected to dominate Stanley Cup Final

Edmonton Oilers say they aren’t afraid of any ghosts in Florida

• Brad Marchand is turning out to be an Oilers slayer, following up a two-goal performance in Game 2, including the overtime winner, with the opening tally to set the pace Monday. Oilers fans take little solace in the fact that his addition at the trade deadline will now cost them a first-round draft pick, instead of a second-rounder had they not reached the final.

• Edmonton’s lone goal was a big one for Evan Bouchard, who earned an assist to record the 80th playoff point (20 goals, 60 assists in 72 games) of his career, tying him for the fifth fewest games in NHL history for a blue liner to reach the milestone, joining Bobby Orr (66 games), Paul Coffey (67 games), Brian Leetch (70 games), Al MacInnis (71 games) and Cale Makar (72 games).

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• Officials have been heavy on the whistles early on in games this series, calling five of the seven penalties in the first period of Game 1, and 11 of 14 in the first period of Game 2. Eight of the 32 penalties in Game 3 were called in the first period. Monday’s game was the first time this series a penalty was called in the third period, which had a total of 23 infractions. Game 4 shall be interesting, not to mention pivotal.

• The Panthers are a perfect 11-0 when scoring at least five goals in a game over these playoffs. Yes, they have done it 11 times. More than half of the 20 games they’ve played.

E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge

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