Winter in June once more: The Oilers and Panthers continue to push this hockey season into the summer.

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — As summer officially begins in the Northern Hemisphere, the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers, the top two teams of the 2023-24 NHL season, continue their battle in the Stanley Cup Final.

The outcome of Game 6, and potentially Game 7, will determine not just this season’s hockey champion but also a rare team that has triumphed across all four seasons — fall, winter, spring, and now summer. This achievement is particularly noteworthy given that this marks the sixth time in NHL history and the fourth time in the past five years that the season has extended into the summer months.

The Panthers and Oilers, should they win, will join an elite group of teams that have managed victories across all seasons within a single NHL campaign. Previously, only the 2021-22 Colorado Avalanche and Tampa Bay Lightning achieved this feat, navigating through a season heavily disrupted by the pandemic.

This year’s Stanley Cup Final, played in Edmonton, signifies a historic moment where either team could etch their names alongside these previous champions. For the Panthers and Oilers, their journey through fall, winter dominance, spring resilience in playoffs, and now a summer showdown underscores their resilience and consistency throughout the extended season.

For hockey fans and players alike, this unusual alignment of seasons with the NHL calendar adds a unique dimension to an already compelling championship series, highlighting the endurance and adaptability required to succeed in professional sports across changing conditions and times of year.