As one of the few Edmontonians under the age of 45 who has actually seen the Oilers win a Stanley Cup – and can remember it – fan Chris Davies has been hanging on to those winning memories for a long time.

He attended one playoff game in what he called the "glory years" – that franchise-defining run of 13 seasons after joining the NHL in 1979. What he remembers is how loud it was.

"There was just this continuous, continuous noise," the 40-year-old recalls. "It was super overwhelming as a 9-year-old. People stood for two-thirds of the game."

The Oilers were one of four teams to join the NHL from the WHA for the 1979-80 season, and they made an immediate impact. Bolstered by a kid phenom by the name of Wayne Gretzky – who, legend has it, was acquired in a backgammon game – they were the lowest playoff seed in their first season but truly announced themselves the next year by taking down a legendary but aging Montreal Canadiens team in the first round.

They didn't have to wait long to become legends in their own right: Between 1983-90 they appeared in six Stanley Cup Finals, winning five. They even managed to lock down a Cup without Gretzky, who had been sent to the Los Angeles Kings in one of the most stunning deals in sports history.

Of course, shortly thereafter, the dark ages fell upon the Edmonton faithful as their team struggled to reach those heights again. The Oilers have not hoisted the Cup in 32 years. Other than a flash of brilliance in 2006 when they made it to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, they've otherwise existed in what appeared to be a perpetual state of rebuilding. For those just slightly younger than Chris Davies, the "glory days" were little more than oral legends, highlight clips, and jersey retirement ceremonies.

"My dad was an Oilers fan growing up, and I remember him talking about Gretzky and Messier, all those guys. All those years (since), it felt like maybe we'd be at the bottom forever," lifelong fan Tyler Melanson, 28, said.