Should ‘City of Champions’ make a comeback?

Edmonton hasn’t officially been known as the ‘City of Champions’ for nearly a decade. But with the Oilers in the Stanley Cup final and a positive buzz in the city, some are hoping a slogan comes back, while some fans are making their own signs.

Warren Sillanpaa has been decorating his downtown Edmonton home since the last time the team was in the hunt for the cup in 2006. Like almost everyone in the city, he’s waiting for Saturday’s game.

“If we win, we’re gonna build a Stanley Cup out of something,” said Sillanpaa.

But while the Oilers are so close to being champions, the City of Edmonton hasn’t been formally known as that since 2015. And for sports teams in the city, it’s been since:

• Oilers (NHL) – 1989-90
• Elks/Eskimos (CFL) – 2015
• Stingers (CEBL) – 2021
• Oil Kings (WHL) – 2022 (WHL Champions), 2014 (Memorial Cup Champions)
• Huskies (CJFL) – 2005
• Wildcats (CJFL) – 1983
• Storm (WWCFL) – Never
• Prospects (WCBL) – Never
• Riverhawks (WCL) – Never
• Rush (NLL, before moving to Saskatchewan) – 2015
• FC Edmonton (CPL, before folding) – Never

“I was sad to see it go,” said one Edmontonian.

The slogan itself has nothing to do with sports, rather, a rallying call for Edmontonians following the devastating 1987 ‘Black Friday’ tornado.

But with a positive vibe in the city, Edmonton’s business leaders tell me while they’re not necessarily calling for the sign to come back, but say the city has been lacking something without it.

“It was a sad day when they took the ‘City of Champions’ sign down and here we are, many years later, and our brand is kind of, we’re edmonton,” said Doug Griffiths, the CEO of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce.

Griffiths says Edmonton has a lot to celebrate outside of hockey, including positive economic investment, a diverse growing population, and North America’s largest urban river valley, and with the hockey world watching, now is the time to promote it.

Even if ‘City of Champions’ doesn’t come back, Griffiths say he hopes it gets Edmontonians talking.

“Some people were saying he should shut up because that’s an old thing we used to be, I don’t care, if people are happy or angry about it, at least their having a conversation about it. And it is time the city carries on from the momentum of this playoff run.”