THEY’RE DRAWING UP THE BATTLE LINES ONCE AGAIN
Back in the day, there wasn’t a better NHL rivalry than the boys in Alberta
Those unfamiliar with how intense the Battle of Alberta can be for its residents clearly never took part in a family dinner at Kris Versteeg’s home in Lethbridge.
“I mean, it’s big,” said the Calgary Flames winger, when asked how much it would mean for Albertans to have a truly elevated rivalry once again.
“There are a lot of family feuds already so the Battle of Alberta never helped. I know growing up in my household with grandparents battling — one was an Oilers fan, the others were Flames fans, my uncle is a Flames fan, my dad is an Oil ... they’re all kind of intertwined growing up so there was always a battle there. The teams were really good in that era, too, especially, so it always made the games fun and exciting. I thought it was great for the province as well.”
Brace yourself Alberta, as things are about to get a whole lot more intense Saturday night when the Flames and Oilers do battle in Edmonton on a stage they haven’t two-stepped on for ages: a platform in which both teams are in playoff spots.
It has been a long time coming — and there is still a long way to go — but what we have here are all the makings for a rebirth of sorts as their respective rebuilds are now far enough along.
“For those who say it died, it’s not true,” said Flames goalie Chad Johnson, who grew up in a conflict-free household in southeast Calgary inhabited by nothing but Flames fans.
“I think it never really dies. We’re both from Alberta — you’re a Flame or an Oiler. The intensity can be higher or lower but it doesn’t go away. Even if you are both last place teams you still don’t want to be worse than the Oilers or vice versa. There’s that competitiveness. The higher up in the standings and the further you get into the playoffs, the higher the intensity — and then the battle gets bigger.”
After all these years of bottomdwelling squads battling, er, mildly disagreeing, for little more than provincial bragging rights, the stakes have been elevated. It’s more than likely at least one team is ready to seize a playoff push. Maybe both.
A popular theory is one will get in this spring at the expense of the other, which provides yet another crucial ingredient needed to re-start the vitriol that used to prevail when the two Cup-worthy squads of the ’80s met up.
“For sure, fighting for a spot is part of it, but the next step is getting in and playing one another,” Flames captain Mark Giordano said.
“It’s all about playoffs for every rivalry. That’s where it starts. Or battling for playoffs. I think you saw it with Vancouver a few years back. When you get into a playoff spot it reignites that fire you have with one another. Playing games that mean a lot down the stretch with Edmonton will be a fun atmosphere, for sure.”
It has been exactly three months since these two opened the season against one another with Edmonton’s two-game sweep of Calgary that, quite frankly, embarrassed the Flames.
Plenty has changed since then as the Oilers have cooled off from their torrid start and the Flames have surged following a horrific opening month.
“We were giving them way too many chances and playing right into their hands,” Giordano said of the two-game track meet that saw the Flames give up endless breakaways en route to being outscored 12-7.
“In order for us to be successful against them we have to get that out of our game — the turnovers, the run-and-gun type game. They’ll eat us up at that game.”
Separated by three points before Friday’s Flames-Devils tilt, Saturday’s game on Hockey Night in Canada will be followed one week later by a delicious rematch at the Saddledome. By then it’s likely to be plenty hostile.
“Both teams are right there by each other and it gives fans lots of things to talk about,” said Versteeg, who was signed by the Flames following a pre-season tryout with the Oilers.
“This is one of those years both teams are pushing each other. The whole Pacific (division) seems to be. Both teams are getting better. But it doesn’t matter as long as you understand April 15 is where you want to be in the end, and that’s where the true battle starts.
"Both teams still have to get there.”