Canada will have a team playing for the NHL's Stanley Cup trophy this year as the Edmonton Oilers advanced.

The Oilers defeated the Anaheim Mighty Ducks 2-1 in a nail-biter of a Game 5 of their Western Conference final series on Saturday night.

However, while most celebrated responsibly back in Edmonton, some used the occasion to engage in vandalism, breaking windows and setting fires on the road and in trash bins (details below -- see 'Party turns bad').

The game

The Oilers won the first three games of the series, lost Thursday night to the Ducks at Rexall Place in Edmonton, and then eliminated the Ducks in Anaheim at the Pond.

Not since 1990, the tail end of the great Oilers dynasty of the 1980s that saw them win five championships in seven years, have the Oilers played for a Stanley Cup.

The Oilers now await the victor of the Eastern Conference final between the Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes.

That series is tied at two games.

"It's unbelievable, it's a great feeling," Oilers forward Ryan Smyth told reporters afterward. "We've got a great team and want to continue with success ...

"I've had so many great experiences with Team Canada ... but I want to come back here and win a Stanley Cup. That's what every kid dreams of."

Oilers coach Craig McTavish has said his team has done it the hard way all season. They barely made the playoffs, defeating Anaheim 2-1 in their second-last regular-season game to squeak into eighth place ahead of the Vancouver Canucks. The Oilers first had to defeat the top-seeded Detroit Red Wings and then the San Jose Sharks to reach the finals.

In Saturday night's game, the Oilers ended the first period down a goal after the Ducks' Francois Beachemin scored on a power play.

However, they battled back in the second, going ahead 2-1.

Oilers forward Ethan Moreau managed to bat home his own rebound from a wrap-around attempt to tie the game, and then Raffi Torres deflected a shot into the Ducks' net, giving the Oilers a lead that would ultimately stand up. No team scored in the third period.

The Ducks didn't quit. At one point, they pulled their goalie, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, with two minutes left and two Oilers in the penalty box. That gave them six skaters to the Oilers' three, but they couldn't get a puck past Oilers goaltender Dwayne Roloson.

If the Oilers go on to win the Stanley Cup, they will be first Canadian team to do so since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens.

Even better for Edmonton, if they pull it off, they will be able to do what the Calgary Flames -- their arch-rivals a three-hour drive south -- failed to accomplish in 2004 when they reached the final.

Back in those heady days for Calgary, fans gathered on the Red Mile, the 17th Avenue SW strip of bars and restaurants to celebrate every step forward in the Flames' remarkable run that year. Their copper-and-blue rivals a three-hour drive to the north could only look south enviously.

The Blue Mile

Edmonton Oilers fans now have a party strip to call their own -- The Blue Mile (also sometimes called the Copper Kilometre). The strip is located on Edmonton's Whyte Avenue, also a location for fashionable stores, restaurants and bars.

As soon as victory was confirmed, deliriously happy fans by the thousands poured into the street from the adjoining bars and pubs.

"It's called the Blue Mile for a reason, but there's no reason to be blue here tonight," CTV's Erin Isfeld reported Saturday night from the strip.

"These fans have been waiting so long for this. They were worried after Game 4 and that loss to Anaheim, but the Oilers came back tonight and there's just jubilation."

In noting how long it's been since Edmonton was in the final, Isfeld noted the heyday of players like Wayne Gretzky -- who visited the Oilers dressing room after the series-clinching win, Mark Messier and Paul Coffey.

By comparison, Edmonton's current heroes are relatively unsung. "The players we have right now -- Ryan Smyth, Jason Smith, Chris Pronger, Mike Peca -- those players with such heart. They have come back. Nobody thought that they could do it. And they are here, they have arrived," Isfeld said.

Hockey night in Kandahar

The Oilers had some fans cheering them on from Afghanistan. About 40 people gathered at a large, air-conditioned tent called Canada House to watch the game, which was on at 5:30 a.m. local time.

"That was a great game," Master Cpl. Troy Weiss told The Canadian Press, his assault rifle near by. "Finally they clinched it and it's great to have Canadian team in the final."

Throughout the series, civilian employee Jonthia Goode had been showing up before 4 a.m. to make sure she got a good seat. "This is unbelievable,'' she said. "Now we're just waiting for the Stanley Cup.''

The icing on the cake? "I'm going to be home for the playoffs!"

Party turns bad

While the vast majority of partiers out on Whyte Avenue were well-behaved, there were some incidents of vandalism reported as the night dragged on. Then, things started deteriorating quickly, Isfeld said early Sunday.

"We're definitely on the verge of a riot right now," she said at one point. "For the last three hours, we've had fires being set in the middle of Whyte Avenue ... anything and everything that will burn. They're throwing their clothes on them."

Firefighters doused the fires -- and the crowds -- from rooftops. Eventually, police in riot control gear escorted them to put out some of the small fires, she said.

Around 3:30 a.m. local time, Edmonton police -- buttressed by reinforcements from the city of Camrose and RCMP from around the province -- pushed the crowd off Whyte Avenue, Isfeld said. "They essentially forced them to go home."

A few diehards who didn't want to go were arrested, Isfeld said, adding she didn't have precise statistics on how many were picked up

Edmonton's Emergency Response Services said they haven't had to transport anyone from Whyte Avenue to hospital, but did report treating minor injuries, she said.

"One of the RCMP officers here said to me he worked the Red Mile in Calgary and said he's never seen anything like this, that Calgary never got to anything like this at all."

Another Edmonton police official said the behaviour of the bad elements in the crowd was getting close to the Canada Day riot of 2001 on the avenue, Isfeld said.

Some people in the area were disgusted by the behaviour, she said. "They feel very embarrassed for this city. They are worried about the black eye that this is going to cause for the city."

Police say they will be reviewing staffing levels because they can foresee things getting worse if the Oilers actually win the Stanley Cup, she said.

Branded for life

Many sports fans show their devotion by wearing team jerseys or other apparel. Some paint their faces or wear wacky costumes.

Some make a more permanent statement by getting a tattoo.

"To me, it was just kind of a neat idea. I was, 'Oh, I'll go get a tattoo," said Nova Scotia native Jeremey van den Hayden, who now has 'Got Oil?' tattooed on the bottom of his left forearm. He described Edmonton as an "awesome town to watch hockey in."

The real hardcore fans go even further -- some have gotten their butts branded.

"It was like a hot cold, then you could just feel your skin pulling apart," said Jamie McDonald, describing his "Go Oil" brand, which he got about three weeks ago.

The pain, however, is worth it if the Oilers go all the way, he said.

"This is for life. Not too many people can see it unless they ask or unless it comes down," he said with a chuckle while sitting in his living room wearing an Oilers t-shirt. "But it's there for life, it's something I did, and I'm proud of it."

With a report from CTV Edmonton's Erin Isfeld and files from The Canadian Press