‘I’ve been waiting for this’

Flames and Oilers were overdue for spring series

Before you go calling him a traitor, before any accusation of playing both sides, hear the man out …

Perry Berezan is fiercely loyal to the Calgary Flames. He did, after all, skate for five seasons at the Saddledome. He is a proud alumni and past playoff hero.

And yet, Berezan is willing to admit that he’s also been pulling for the arch-enemy Edmonton Oilers.

Because he, like hundreds of thousands of others, was desperate to see another bestof-seven edition of the Battle of Alberta.

“I’ve been waiting for this ever since I moved back here. This province needs this so bad,” said Berezan, a fulltime Calgary resident since the mid-1990s. “Every year, I would say to people, ‘I want Edmonton to do better,’ when they were struggling to get in the playoffs. And they were always like, ‘Why?!’ And I’d say, ‘Because I want them to play the Flames. There’s no way this can happen, unless both teams start to get better.’

“Some people just didn’t understand. They’d say, ‘No, I just want Edmonton to suck.’ I’d say, ‘No, you don’t. You want them to do better so there’s a chance we will play them in the playoffs, and then you’ll have memories for a lifetime.”

Having both survived the opening round of the 2022 Stanley Cup quest, the Flames and Oilers will — finally — square off in another sevengame set, their first spring showdown since way back in 1991.

The bedlam starts Wednesday at the Saddledome.

“I think we were all anticipating this,” said Flames goaltending legend Mike Vernon. “Hopefully, it will live up to all of that and then some, and it will keep you writers busy.”

There are already plenty of chapters in Battle of Alberta lore.

For a while, a best-of-seven slugfest between the Flames and Oilers was almost like a spring formality. Back when there were several Hockey Hall of Fame shoo-ins on either end of the QEII, these highway rivals hooked up for five post-season series over a nine-year stretch from 198391.

Since then? Zip. Zilch. Nada.

It’s not just that Johnny Gaudreau and Connor Mcdavid have never been a part an all-alberta affair in the Stanley Cup playoffs. They have never even witnessed one.

“Finally, a 15-year-old is going to know what it feels like instead of just what he hears from his dad or his grandpa, and a 25-year-old is going to feel what that’s like and be able to talk about it for the next 10 years,” Berezan said. “I think for both teams, this is a marketing miracle. You’re going to lock a lot of people in, because they’re going to be emotionally invested.”

Fans in both cities have already been riding an emotional rollercoaster.

To get this far, the Oilers needed to win back-to-back games to erase a 3-2 series deficit against the Los Angeles Kings.

The Flames were forced to work overtime in Sunday’s Game 7 against the Dallas Stars. Jake Oettinger, with a 64-save show-off, was threatening to squash plans for a provincewide party before Gaudreau sizzled a shot over his shoulder for the suddendeath snipe.

“We were up in the club (Sunday) with some of the other alumni, and I had my daughter and grandson there with me,” said Flames franchise all-timer Lanny Mcdonald. “Everyone was on the edge of their seat, and I don’t know if I’ve ever heard the building that loud.

“When Johnny jumped on the rebound and goes top shelf, holy smokes, we were going nuts upstairs. Like, it was absolute pandemonium. You went from holding your breath to taking a sigh of relief in the middle of this great celebration.”

What was unique about Gaudreau’s goal is that it prompted smiles in Stony Plain and St. Paul and Slave Lake, too.

That, of course, is Oil Country.

As Flames thumper Milan Lucic told Sportsnet after Sunday’s handshakes: “It’s what the people wanted.” Indeed.

On both sides.

“Even the mayors get into it,” Vernon said.

“Both cities are so amped up, and that’s why it’s such a great rivalry.”

Although the Flames have notched only one series victory in five all-time playoff matchups with the Oilers, many of the most memorable moments in Calgary’s club history came in these Wild Rose Run-ins.

There was the iconic celebration — Theoren Fleury’s fist-pumping slide through the neutral zone after an overtime winner in 1991.

There was the iconic oopsie — Steve Smith’s infamous own-goal in 1986, a seriesclinching tally that was credited to the Edmonton-raised Berezan after he’d dumped the puck into the zone and headed for a line change. There is this iconic image. “Someone just sent me that picture of me and Dave Semenko,” said former Flames tough guy Tim Hunter.

“In that photo, we’re not fighting. We’re glaring at each other. The will to win and the hate to lose, those were the big motivational factors.”

While the old-timey Battle of Alberta was a bloodbath, and while there are still a few willing ruffians on either side, any line-brawling now will likely be limited to throwback footage from 30-some years ago.

It’s time to introduce a generation of hockey fans to standard-def.

“I think it’s going to be every bit as intense, just not the same violence,” Hunter said. “The penalties, the fighting, all that … It won’t be there. It never will be again. The rules don’t allow it.”

“Back then, we only had one ref watching us,” Berezan reminded. “So as soon as we saw his eyes turn, you could chop somebody as hard as you wanted. And we did.”

Added Mcdonald: “When you think about, and it’s not going to happen now, but there were some of the fiveon-five contests out there that totally got out of hand. But it was about bragging rights. You were playing for your city against the other guys’ city. It was not only the team on the other side. It was north vs. south.”

That last part hasn’t changed.