Calgary vs Edmonton: Biggest rivalry right now?

[Da McBomb]

When Stone replaced Wideman, the Flames won 10 straight. Now with the addition of Hamonic, this could be an even better defense. Elliott was horrendous at the beginning and in playoffs, Smith even as a slight upgrade will help. The Flames also out paced the Oilers in wins/points after the first month once they adjusted to their new coach and their shut down line and 1st pair on defense was formed. It's not just adding Hamonic and Smith, it's the fact that this team looked like an upper echelon team for a good chunk of the season and has since made improvements going forward.

The additions of Hamonic and Stone over Wideman is definitely an upgrade... I'll give you that. But I don't agree that because of their additions, the Flames are a 'completely different team now' as you had said in your original post. This is Hamonic and Stone we're talking about.. not some elite top pairing dmen.

Quite a few teams went on big winning streaks last year.. including the Oilers. If I recall correctly.. the Flames won 10 straight against some pretty mediocre teams. And the Flames regulation win record vs playoff teams last season was not good.. all year long.

 

[Mobiandi]

Hamonic and Stone over Jokipakka and Wideman is in fact a massive upgrade. It is two legit NHL defensemen in place of two players who walk the line between #6 talent and not NHL calibre

 

[qwerty]

Oiler fans are always made fun of when the older ones mention "5 cups", etc. Then Flames fans always say "Do you not remember the last x years?"

Live in the here and now. Not the past.

Very strange to see an Oiler fan talk about living in the here and now when all they do is bring up their 5 cups and that bra joke. Remember, McDavid's team still finished 28th in 15-16. The current group has had one great season so far. Did they improve over this coming season? I don't know. But what I do know is that they just jettisoned their 3rd highest point producer who had 7 points in 4 games vs the Flames.

 

[Elias Pettersson]

It's not a rivalry when the Oilers just steamroll the Flames every meeting.

 

[983 others]

It's the most entertaining rivalry on these boards for sure.

 

[TheStroker]

Its like watching 2 kids who have been getting beat up for the last while finally start to hit puberty and stick up for themselves. Their still the small squirts to the rest of the playground, but sure, let them have this fight among themselves.

On the ice it's a decent rivalry that will get better. But the fanbases themselves ruin probably every thread they are involved in. Then I remember they still those 2 small squirts on the playground and I just laugh at them.

Not even close to being the biggest on ice rivalry, and anyone who thinks so clearly showcases themselves as being too young to remember the great BOA rivalry of the 80s

 

[Tad Mikowsky]

I just don't see Edmonton improving with the cap and they are not the Pens or Hawks they don't draft well after the first round.Calgary will be the better team in the long run.

Of course you don't.

Taking a gander at most of your 95 posts have been outlandishly biased against the Oilers.

 

[qwerty]

The additions of Hamonic and Stone over Wideman is definitely an upgrade... I'll give you that. But I don't agree that because of their additions, the Flames are a 'completely different team now' as you had said in your original post. This is Hamonic and Stone we're talking about.. not some elite top pairing dmen.

Quite a few teams went on big winning streaks last year.. including the Oilers. If I recall correctly.. the Flames won 10 straight against some pretty mediocre teams. And the Flames regulation win record vs playoff teams last season was not good.. all year long.

10 straight wins wasn't even the most impressive accomplishment to me. It was the fact that they were 4th best in wins in the entire league after their mess of a first month. They also were 3rd best in goals allowed behind only Anaheim and Washington.

Not a lot of people realize this, but the Flames were having a tough time finding consistent scoring but when Micheal Ferland was placed on the first line in the final quarter of the season, Gaudreau produced at over a ppg pace. It was the best he and Monahan looked all season. There was a lot to learn for Glen Gulutzen and the team, but if they can avoid another disastrous first month, look out.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

It's not a rivalry when the Oilers just steamroll the Flames every meeting.

Hopefully flames and oiler meet in playoffs, if flames win the series kinda makes the regular season "steamrolls" irrelevant.

I actually think if they do meet in the playoffs oiler might have trouble with them.

 

[Soundwave]

Hopefully flames and oiler meet in playoffs, if flames win the series kinda makes the regular season "steamrolls" irrelevant.

I actually think if they do meet in the playoffs oiler might have trouble with them.

I don't think the Flames really match up well with the Oilers. They get pushed around as the Oilers are a bigger team these days. Larsson just flattened Gaudreau several times last year with zero response from their side. Flames also tend to give up a lot of odd man rushes, I don't know why that is specifically, but the Oilers just feasted on them and yes that was even after Gulutzan's "system" was well into place, the last game the Oilers beat up on the Flames was arguably their easiest game against them.

There's just a lot of open ice. Flames are a bit undisciplined against Edmonton and think they can trade chances, but if you get into playing that type of game against a team that has McDavid and Draisaitl you are going to get yourself into big trouble fast.

The days of this being some intense rivalry as I said are long since over, as I said this has a loooooong way to go before it's anywhere close to the 80s or even 90s BOAs.

 

[Deplorable Lenny]

Very strange to see an Oiler fan talk about living in the here and now when all they do is bring up their 5 cups and that bra joke. Remember, McDavid's team still finished 28th in 15-16. The current group has had one great season so far. Did they improve over this coming season? I don't know. But what I do know is that they just jettisoned their 3rd highest point producer who had 7 points in 4 games vs the Flames.

McDavids team? Lol you sound ridiculous. McDavid barely played half the season and he was 18 years old. Even in Crosbys first season the Penguins finished dead last in the league and Crosby played the whole year and got over 100 points. It didn't mean anything when they finally did start winning games. I really don't see your point.

Flames fans like bringing up the past just as much. If one fan base does it the other fan base will. I see Flames fans bugging the Canucks about not winning any cups numerous times over the years.

Lastly, you forgot to mention that Eberle only got 2 points in 13 playoff games and makes 6M per year. He might have been their 3rd highest scorer in the regular season but he was their 16th higher scorer in the playoffs.

In fact he played awful against good NHL teams and lit up the bottom teams. Calgary is the only playoff team he had any real success against last year IIRC. He completely disappeared against teams like Anaheim but lit up Vancouver. Down the stretch and into the playoffs he was probably one of the worst players in the league for 2-3 months. Just awful. The play died on his stick almost every time he touched it. The team still went on a tear and almost won the division.

He was a heck of a player. Unfortunately, He lost his drive to the net and his perimeter offensive style made him invisible in important games. Especially against tough checking teams that wouldn't give him the room to dipsy doodle. He would just give the puck away or shoot it at the goalies bread basket. That drive and passion he had for going to the net in his early seasons is long gone. I think he picks it up playing in the east but who knows. All I know is losing him won't make that big of a difference at all.

 

[Matty Sundin]

Always been more of a sibling rivlary to me. I imagine it was intense in the 80s and early 90s but that was a long time ago. Flames probably hate the Ducks more now and Oilers were garbage for over a decade until now that they havent really had a chance create any kinda rivalry except for maybe teams in the draft lottery.

 

[qwerty]

I don't think the Flames really match up well with the Oilers. They get pushed around as the Oilers are a bigger team these days. Larsson just flattened Gaudreau several times last year with zero response from their side. Flames also tend to give up a lot of odd man rushes, I don't know why that is specifically, but the Oilers just feasted on them and yes that was even after Gulutzan's "system" was well into place, the last game the Oilers beat up on the Flames was arguably their easiest game against them.

There's just a lot of open ice. Flames are a bit undisciplined against Edmonton and think they can trade chances, but if you get into playing that type of game against a team that has McDavid and Draisaitl you are going to get yourself into big trouble fast.

The days of this being some intense rivalry as I said are long since over, as I said this has a loooooong way to go before it's anywhere close to the 80s or even 90s BOAs.

One playoff matchup can change everything though. I haven't seen this many Oiler fans ragging on the Flames since 2006. I actually think Oiler fans hated Kevin Lowe and Craig McTavish more than the Flames over the last decade.

As for on the ice, If you watched carefully, a lot of those odd man rushes last season were caused by players who are no longer with the Flames. Guys like Wideman, Jokipakka, Grossman were slow, plodding defensemen who lacked hockey sense, foot speed and turned the puck over a lot.

The Oilers haven't played the Flames yet with Michael Stone or Travis Hamonic in the lineup. Slotting can make a big difference, I believe that more than ever now. I mean literally, the second Dennis Wideman was scratched and Stone came in, The Flames won 10 straight. TJ Brodie's stats with Stone vs with Wideman tells you everything you need to know as well, virtually night and day.

 

[JoVel]

One is still a contender and one is just starting to rebuild but Tampa and Detroit are definitely up there with teams that hate each other the most. Neither of the teams are known for physical/dirty hockey but when they play each other everything's allowed.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

One playoff matchup can change everything though. I haven't seen this many Oiler fans ragging on the Flames since 2006. I actually think Oiler fans hated Kevin Lowe and Craig McTavish more than the Flames over the last decade.

As for on the ice, If you watched carefully, a lot of those odd man rushes last season were caused by players who are no longer with the Flames. Guys like Wideman, Jokipakka, Grossman were slow, plodding defensemen who lacked hockey sense, foot speed and turned the puck over a lot.

The Oilers haven't played the Flames yet with Michael Stone or Travis Hamonic in the lineup. Slotting can make a big difference, I believe that more than ever now. I mean literally, the second Dennis Wideman was scratched and Stone came in, The Flames won 10 straight. TJ Brodie's stats with Stone vs with Wideman tells you everything you need to know as well, virtually night and day.

Yea I def don't think the oilers would dominate that series... even the ducks have basically owned the flames for the last decade... and every game of the last playoff matchup was pretty hardly contested. It almost felt like a 7 game series, despite it only being 4.

 

[ottawa]

TL;DR: Oilers hate Flames...Flames hate Vancouver

 

[Soundwave]

Yea I def don't think the oilers would dominate that series... even the ducks have basically owned the flames for the last decade... and every game of the last playoff matchup was pretty hardly contested. It almost felt like a 7 game series, despite it only being 4.

There are rarely any easy games in the playoffs. That's why it's the playoffs.

That said, that doesn't really mean the Flames match up well against the Oilers. The teams that match up best against the Oilers are:

1.) Seasoned/very experienced teams that can (for now) use their experience to exploit some mistakes the Oilers make. The Flames are not really this team, they get goaded easily into playing back and forth hockey which is a big, big mistake against the Oilers.

2.) To the point above, very disciplined teams. Need a very structured system and a team that won't get baited into playing outside of that. Calgary doesn't really fit the mold here either.

3.) Teams that have a strong checking line/shut down center. Calgary does not have this player.

4.) Elite/high end talent that can legit hang with McDavid/Draisaitl. Gaudreau/Monahan are OK but they are not in this category.

5.) Strong goaltending. Against a team that has Connor McDavid, your goalie needs to bail you out now and again.

 

[Da McBomb]

The Flames also out paced the Oilers in wins/points after the first month once they adjusted to their new coach and their shut down line and 1st pair on defense was formed.

Almost every team has bad stretches of games where they struggled and would like to erase from their season. The Flames bad stretch was in October when they went 4-5-1. The Oilers bad stretch came in November when they went 5-8-2. If I'm correct, the Flames record after October was 41-28-3, the Oilers record after October was 40-24-9 - which includes that bad month in November. Thats hardly outpacing the Oilers.

 

[qwerty]

McDavids team? Lol you sound ridiculous. McDavid barely played half the season and he was 18 years old. Even in Crosbys first season the Penguins finished dead last in the league and Crosby played the whole year and got over 100 points. It didn't mean anything when they finally did start winning games. I really don't see your point.

Flames fans like bringing up the past just as much. If one fan base does it the other fan base will. I see Flames fans bugging the Canucks about not winning any cups numerous times over the years.

Lastly, you forgot to mention that Eberle only got 2 points in 13 playoff games and makes 6M per year. He might have been their 3rd highest scorer in the regular season but he was their 16th higher scorer in the playoffs.

In fact he played awful against good NHL teams and lit up the bottom teams. Calgary is the only playoff team he had any real success against last year IIRC. He completely disappeared against teams like Anaheim but lit up Vancouver. Down the stretch and into the playoffs he was probably one of the worst players in the league for 2-3 months. Just awful. The play died on his stick almost every time he touched it. The team still went on a tear and almost won the division.

He was a heck of a player. Unfortunately, He lost his drive to the net and his perimeter offensive style made him invisible in important games. Especially against tough checking teams that wouldn't give him the room to dipsy doodle. He would just give the puck away or shoot it at the goalies bread basket. That drive and passion he had for going to the net in his early seasons is long gone. I think he picks it up playing in the east but who knows. All I know is losing him won't make that big of a difference at all.

First off, the "lol" in your post, what are you 12 years old? Secondly, the point that I was making is that your team with McDavid isn't infalliable. The record with him in and out of the lineup wasn't vastly different either. Im just pointing out that McDavid's Oilers likely won't be sweeping or "steamrolling" the Flames every year like many have said in this thread.

As for the Eberle conversation, his performance in the 2017 playoffs has nothing to do with the Flames-Oilers rivalry or season series. It's irrelevant. What is relevant is that he had 7 points in 4 games vs the Flames and was a big reason why the Oilers won all 4 games last season. You may not like him that much and I myself am indifferent to him, but regardless, his performance against the Flames this season was stellar and he did finish 3rd in points for the Oilers, that is a fact.

 

[Price is Wright]

The Flames got a lot of guys I'm meh on and a lot of guys I'm excited about. If Pribyl and Jankowski end up NHL material I don't know how the Flames struggle to the Cup.

*looks at goaltending*

Oh right.

 

[qwerty]

Almost every team has bad stretches of games where they struggled and would like to erase from their season. The Flames bad stretch was in October when they went 4-5-1. The Oilers bad stretch came in November when they went 5-8-2. If I'm correct, the Flames record after October was 41-28-3, the Oilers record after October was 40-24-9 - which includes that bad month in November. Thats hardly outpacing the Oilers.

The season started in mid October, when I said the first month, I was talking about 30 days when the Flames had 40 wins in 66 games and the Oilers had 38 wins in 67 games. It was close, but the point I was making was that The Flames were a completely different team after their adjustment period. It's true, every team has bad stretches and cherry picking stats is generally not ideal. But it also true that it took the Flames a while to start playing a completely different style then they were use to under 4 yrs of Bob Hartley. Also when the 3M line was put together and Hamilton-Giordano became a pair, everything changed from there. The special teams also took about a month to transform. That was the turning point in the season and to me, it is the more telling of how this team will perform going forward.

 

[Deplorable Lenny]

First off, the "lol" in your post, what are you 12 years old? Secondly, the point that I was making is that your team with McDavid isn't infalliable. The record with him in and out of the lineup wasn't vastly different either. Im just pointing out that McDavid's Oilers likely won't be sweeping or "steamrolling" the Flames every year like many have said in this thread.

As for the Eberle conversation, his performance in the 2017 playoffs has nothing to do with the Flames-Oilers rivalry or season series. It's irrelevant. What is relevant is that he had 7 points in 4 games vs the Flames and was a big reason why the Oilers won all 4 games last season. You may not like him that much and I myself am indifferent to him, but regardless, his performance against the Flames this season was stellar and he did finish 3rd in points for the Oilers, that is a fact.

Again its not really much of a point because it doesn't matter what the Oilers record was when McDavid was 18 years old. Just as it doesn't matter what Pittsburgh record was when Crosby was only 18 years old. He has gotten a lot better and the team has improved a ton as well. They did get 103 points last year. So if you want to talk about McDavids first year, please enlighten us your thoughts on his 2nd year. Oh wait that doesn't fit your narrative?

The truth is that the Oilers did sweep and steamroll the Flames last year so Im sure you can understand why that is why some fans have the expectation for that to happen again. Not everyone is negating the Oilers dominance against the Flames last your like you are.

As far as Eberles concerned I pointed out that he didn't play good at all VS good, tough checking teams. I am sure that is the goal of the Flames going forward with that D-core. If their D is as good as expected, Eberle won't be any damage VS them going forward. So losing Eberle,a player who disappears in said situations, shouldn't matter at all as he is useless.

 

[Deplorable Lenny]

The season started in mid October, when I said the first month, I was talking about 30 days when the Flames had 40 wins in 66 games and the Oilers had 38 wins in 67 games. It was close, but the point I was making was that The Flames were a completely different team after their adjustment period. It's true, every team has bad stretches and cherry picking stats is generally not ideal. But it also true that it took the Flames a while to start playing a completely different style then they were use to under 4 yrs of Bob Hartley. Also when the 3M line was put together and Hamilton-Giordano became a pair, everything changed from there. The special teams also took about a month to transform. That was the turning point in the season and to me, it is the more telling of how this team will perform going forward.

You can't just pick and choose which games matter. Thats beyond ridiculous. Im sure you have an excuse as to why the Oilers won the other 2 games vs the Flames too eh?

If I were to just pick and choose when to start counting games lets start with March 9th. The Oilers went 12-3-1 and the Flames went 8-7-0 down the stretch. What does that mean? Absolutely nothing. Just like your stat.

 

[qwerty]

Again its not really much of a point because it doesn't matter what the Oilers record was when McDavid was 18 years old. Just as it doesn't matter what Pittsburgh record was when Crosby was only 18 years old. He has gotten a lot better and the team has improved a ton as well. They did get 103 points last year. So if you want to talk about McDavids first year, please enlighten us your thoughts on his 2nd year. Oh wait that doesn't fit your narrative?

The truth is that the Oilers did sweep and steamroll the Flames last year so Im sure you can understand why that is why some fans have the expectation for that to happen again. Not everyone is negating the Oilers dominance against the Flames last your like you are.

As far as Eberles concerned I pointed out that he didn't play good at all VS good, tough checking teams. I am sure that is the goal of the Flames going forward with that D-core. If their D is as good as expected, Eberle won't be any damage VS them going forward. So losing Eberle,a player who disappears in said situations, shouldn't matter at all as he is useless.

McDavid had the 3rd highest ppg in 15-16. Not sure why you're discrediting his so called 18 year old season and what narrative are you talking about? I actually said the Oilers had a "great season." I'm literally just stating a fact here that the Oilers lost their 3rd highest scorer who had 7 points against the Flames. So the Oilers will likely have to find someone to replicate those numbers, but it sounds like it'll be easy according to you as he is "useless."

Funny that you're talking about the Oilers dominance, because I remember the Flames sweeping the Oilers in 2015 and dominating them over the last decade. I mean, I remember the Flames legitimately beating the Oilers so bad in the final BOA at Rexall that the fans booed the team off the ice.

 

[qwerty]

You can't just pick and choose which games matter. Thats beyond ridiculous. Im sure you have an excuse as to why the Oilers won the other 2 games vs the Flames too eh?

If I were to just pick and choose when to start counting games lets start with March 9th. The Oilers went 12-3-1 and the Flames went 8-7-0 down the stretch. What does that mean? Absolutely nothing. Just like your stat.

I've already made my points regarding why I cherry picked that particular point in time so I won't say it again, if you can't decipher it then you'll just have to read it again or however many times it'll take.