The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL).

The Oilers were founded on November 1, 1971, with the team playing its first season in 1972, as one of twelve founding franchises of the major professional World Hockey Association (WHA). They were originally intended to be one of two WHA teams in Alberta (the other one being the Calgary Broncos). However, when the Broncos folded before the WHA's first season began, the Oilers were renamed the Alberta Oilers. They returned to using the Edmonton Oilers name for the following year, and have been called that ever since. The Oilers subsequently joined the NHL in 1979, as one of four franchises introduced through the NHL merger with the WHA.

After joining the NHL, the Oilers went on to win the Stanley Cup on five occasions: 1983–84, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1987–88 and 1989–90. For their success in the 1980s, the Oilers team of this era has been honoured with "dynasty" status by the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Edmonton  /ˈɛdməntən/ is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta, Canada. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.

The city and its census metropolitan area had populations of 812,201 and 1,159,869 as of the 2011 Census respectively, making it Alberta's second-largest city, Canada's fifth-largest municipality and Canada's sixth-largest metropolitan area by population. Edmonton is the northernmost North American city with a metropolitan population over one million. A resident of Edmonton is known as an Edmontonian.

The majority of Edmonton's metropolitan population lives within the City of Edmonton rather than in the surrounding suburban municipalities. Historically, Edmonton was surrounded by few other urban municipalities (Strathcona, Beverly and Jasper Place being the largest) but these were absorbed through amalgamation or annexation. Edmonton annexed a significant amount of land up until the early 1980s, and as a result it has sustained much of the region's suburban growth within its own boundaries.

Wayne Douglas Gretzky, CC (/ˈɡrɛtski/; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999. Nicknamed "The Great One", he has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters, players, and the NHL itself. He is the leading point-scorer in NHL history, with more assists than any other player has points, and is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season – a feat he accomplished four times. In addition, he tallied over 100 points in 16 professional seasons, 14 of them consecutive. At the time of his retirement in 1999, he held 40 regular-season records, 15 playoff records, and six All-Star records. In addition to being its greatest scorer, Gretzky was the most gentlemanly superstar in the modern history of the NHL. He won the Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship and performance five times, and he often spoke out against fighting in hockey.

David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC. Letterman recently surpassed friend and mentor Johnny Carson for having the longest late-night hosting career in the United States of America.

Letterman is also a television and film producer. His company Worldwide Pants produces his show as well as its network follow-up The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Worldwide Pants has also produced several prime-time comedies, the most successful of which was Everybody Loves Raymond, currently in syndication.

In 1996, David Letterman was ranked #45 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.

Letterman was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. His father, Harry Joseph Letterman (April 1915 – February 1973), was a florist of British descent; his mother Dorothy Letterman (née Hofert, now Dorothy Mengering), a Presbyterian church secretary of German descent, is an occasional figure on the show, usually at holidays and birthdays.

Nail Railovich Yakupov (Russian: Наиль Раилович Якупов, Tatar Cyrillic: Наил Раил улы Якупов, Latin: Nail Rail uli Yakupov; born October 6, 1993) is a Russian junior ice hockey right winger currently playing for the Sarnia Sting of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).

Besides being the consensus early favourite for top pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, Yakupov, a Tatar, and a Muslim also represents the first potential breakout hockey star from the Republic of Tatarstan (though there have been other NHLers from this region), a federal subject of the Russian Federation, located 500 miles east of Moscow.

Yakupov was selected second overall by the Sarnia Sting in the 2010 Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Import Draft. Prior to this, he played in the Russian Minor Hockey League (MHL) for his hometown team, the Reaktor Nizhnekamsk, but thought that trying to join the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) would be a quicker path to his dream to play in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Yakupov scored his first OHL goal against the Windsor Spitfires on September 24, 2010. After winning OHL Rookie of the Month for the month of October, Yakupov participated in the November 11 game of the Subway Super Series for Team Russia, at the John Labatt Centre in London, Ontario; Russia lost the game 4-0.