While the Edmonton Oilers were in the middle of yet another loss, one Westlock man ended up winning big.
At the April 16 game at Rexall Place, a 5-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild, Mike Edwards heard his number called in the 50/50 draw, numbers that earned him a $57,000 payday.
And to make matters more impressive, Edwards hadn’t even paid to get into Rexall Place, winning his tickets thanks to his knowledge of hockey trivia.
He was listening to Oilers Now on CHED earlier in the day when he realized he knew the answer to the trivia question, and took a chance on calling in.
“I never usually get through on there, and I ended up getting through and winning the tickets,” he said. “And then at the game, they pulled my lucky numbers.”
Edwards won two tickets, and decided to bring his five-year-old son Isaac along to see his first Oilers game.
“He still doesn’t really have a clue what was happening,” Edwards said.
Having bought 50/50 tickets, he said his wife was constantly texting him to ask if he had won. However, since the draw isn’t made until midway through the third period, there was a lot of waiting.
When the draw finally took place, it took Edwards a few seconds to fully realize what had happened.
“When they’re putting the numbers up (on the scoreboard) and you look at it and you’re going ‘Oh yeah, that’s pretty close,’” he said. “Then you look a little closer and ‘Holy man! That’s my number.’”
Given the Oilers were trailing at the time, Edwards said the arena was fairly quiet — at least until he won.
“I think I was the loudest guy in there for a couple of seconds,” he said.
With his wife still wondering whether he had won, Edwards made his way to the Oilers’ office to pick up his winnings.
“While I was in the Oilers’ office, they wrote the cheque out and I snapped a picture of Isaac holding the cheque,” he said. “Then I just said ‘Yes I did.’”
