Gary Bettman wasn't even the NHL commissioner when the Battle of Alberta last met in the NHL playoffs. The Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers met 5 times in 9 years from 1983-1991.
Edmonton won 4 of the 5 battles with 1986 the exception, where Calgary won 4-3. The Oilers beat Calgary in 1984 and 1988 on their way to winning the Stanley Cup.
Here are the 5 times where the Alberta teams met in the NHL playoffs. All of them were for the Smythe Division final.
- 1983 Edmonton 4–1
- 1984 Edmonton 4–3
- 1986 Calgary 4–3
- 1988 Edmonton 4–0
- 1991 Edmonton 4–3
Bettman can't be happy, a good thing for us. The playoffs showcase the one building standing that hasn't be replaced under his thumb: Scotiabank Saddledome. The Battle of Alberta in itself. Also, a Canadian team will play in the western final.
Calgary needed overtime and a brilliant Johnny Gaudreau winning goal to advance past Dallas. Edmonton was down 3-2 to Los Angeles before posting key victories in Game 6 and Game 7.
Connor McDavid had a goal and an assist in Game 7. McDavid got a point in 5 of the 6 goals from the final 2 games. The Oilers also needed swagger like when Evander Kane flashed 7 fingers near end of Game 6.
The Calgary Flames had trouble with Dallas through the series but rose to the occasion in overtime. The Flames won their only overtime game while Edmonton is 0-1 in overtime this spring.
Sometimes, a playoff series comes down to how well some teams match up with others. The players should decide the series, not the referees. In the law of averages, one team shouldn't get as many breaks as the refs gave to the team playing Toronto. The officiating became selective on fake penalties in the 3rd period of Game 6 and the magical call of a player hitting the ice and being called for a penalty in Game 7, nullifying a key goal.
The NHL loves Auston Matthews but hates the Toronto Maple Leafs. They don't have the guts to admit that reality.
Everyone had poked fun over the Toronto Maple Leafs streak of not getting past the first round since 2004. The Maple Leafs had the second longest streak in the NHL behind Florida, which hadn't advanced past the first round since 1996. That was the team Toronto would have faced in the second round this season.
With the exception of the 2021 season, U.S. television refused to show the Battle of Alberta. One of the greatest rivalries in sports and U.S. television turned its back. Now U.S. television has to show the Battle of Alberta 4-7 times in a 2 week period. Hope the ESPN announcers really appreciate this rivalry.
Here are the 2021 telecasts in the United States. All of the HNIC games were on the NHL Network. The NBCSN game was the lone exception:
February 6 Edmonton @ Calgary, 10p (HNIC)
February 20 Calgary @ Edmonton, 10p (HNIC)
March 6 Calgary @ Edmonton, 10p (HNIC)
March 17 Edmonton @ Calgary, 10p (NBCSN)
April 10 Edmonton @ Calgary, 10p (HNIC)
May 1 Edmonton @ Calgary, 10p (HNIC)
CBC will have the Battle of Alberta. The public broadcaster will feature the St. Louis-Colorado series and the all-Florida series (minus Game 3). Those watching CBC channels in Alberta will get that game from the start regardless of the other game that night.
Chris Cuthbert and Craig Simpson with Scott Oake will work the Battle of Alberta series. John Bartlett and Greg Millen with Kyle Bukauskas can work on their tans in Florida. Harnarayan Singh and Louie DeBrusk with Dan Murphy will handle the Blues and Avalanche.
We will update this story for all the second round telecasts.
Game 7 of the Calgary series in the opening round aired on Rogers Sportsnet because of the 2022 Junos.
May 17 Tampa Bay @ Florida, 7p
May 17 St. Louis @ Colorado, 9:30p
May 18 Edmonton @ Calgary, 9:30p
May 19 Tampa Bay @ Florida, 7p
May 19 St. Louis @ Colorado, 9:30p
May 20 Edmonton @ Calgary, 10:30p
May 21 Colorado @ St. Louis, 8p
May 22 Calgary @ Edmonton, 8p
May 23 Florida @ Tampa Bay, 7p
May 23 Colorado @ St. Louis, 9:30p
May 24 Calgary @ Edmonton, 9:30p
May 25 St. Louis @ Colorado, 8p
The ESPN family is working the Battle of Alberta.
May 18 Edmonton @ Calgary, 9:30p John Buccigross/Brian Boucher/Leah Hextall ESPN
May 20 Edmonton @ Calgary, 10:30p John Buccigross/Brian Boucher/Leah Hextall ESPN
May 22 Calgary @ Edmonton, 8p Bob Wischusen/Brian Boucher/Leah Hextall ESPN2
May 24 Calgary @ Edmonton, 9:30p Bob Wischusen/Brian Boucher/Leah Hextall ESPN
May 26 Edmonton @ Calgary, 9:30p Bob Wischusen/Brian Boucher/Leah Hextall ESPN
May 28 Calgary @ Edmonton+, TBD [announcers to come]
May 30 Edmonton @ Calgary+, TBD [announcers to come]
The nice part is that U.S. viewers will get the same (or similar) crew. We will update this when we get the ESPN announcers press release.
ESPN gave us Gord Miller and Cassie Campbell-Pascall for Games 1-2 in Edmonton. We knew the clock would strike midnight for Miller since the World Championships were coming up in Finland. Campbell-Pascall didn't get assigned to another series and wasn't on the docket for Game 5 in Edmonton.
Dominic Moore, who teamed up with Miller for Game 1 in Calgary, worked with Leah Hextall in Edmonton and then Calgary for Game 5 in both series.
ESPN expressed a preference over Rogers Sportsnet to use Campbell-Pascall. There may be unforeseen circumstances. Just us in observation mode.
We are ready to bring back the NHL Network to start games. Turner is like a bad driver at the wheel that suddenly moves across 4 lanes to reach an exit.
There was a game where Tru TV was showing the start of the late game. 2 seconds later, the channel pulls out of coverage and the viewer is left lost as to what happened. Seems like at least 70% of Tru TV prime time programming is reruns of the not very funny practical jokers show. Someone (not us) said Turner was trying to act like NBC. Even NBC was never that bad.
If you want your channels to fill the gaps, have a tiny bit of respect for the NHL audience.
Rogers Sportsnet and CBC (mostly) don't have these issues. The NHL could help but starting late games on time on another channel so there wouldn't be a 8:50 start in Dallas.
Haven't caught much of Ray Ferraro on ESPN in the playoffs but what little we heard was par excellence. He is the best. Ferraro didn't cover any Canadian teams in the first round. He is considered one of the ESPN top analysts.
Gord Miller and Ray Ferraro are the best because of what they share and how much fun they have together. Separately, they are rather strong.
You tiptoe. You avoid saying his name near a mirror. Yet ESPN brought in Brian Boucher for Game 7 of the Edmonton series.
Boucher didn't do a lot of the first round games, a good decision for hockey fans. Often, U.S. networks bring in a new crew for a Game 7 that has no clue about the teams and the dynamic of the series.
Bob Wischusen is fine. Leah Hextall called Game 5 and was the ice-level reporter for Game 7. The same crew called Game 7 in Calgary.
Cassie Campbell-Pascall was a more logical choice, having called Games 1-2 with Gord Miller. Kevin Weekes would have been a better call. The other ESPN Game 7 crew: Steve Levy, Ray Ferraro, and Emily Kaplan. That would have been great.
photo credit: @sportsnet
Twitter captures: @hockeynight; @sportsnet
