Battle of Alberta The Battle of Alberta is a term applied to the intense rivalry between the Canadian cities of Edmonton , the capital of the province of Alberta , and Calgary , the province ' s largest city . Hockey . The first professional hockey rivalry between the two cities dates to the founding of the Western Canada Hockey League in 1921 . Both cities received teams , Calgary the Tigers , and Edmonton the Eskimos . The Eskimos won the WCHL title in 1923 , but lost the Stanley Cup to the rival National Hockey League ' s Ottawa Senators . Calgary also appeared in a Stanley Cup championship series in 1924 , but lost to the Montreal Canadiens of the NHL . After the demise of the WCHL in 1927 , Alberta hockey fans turned to junior hockey . Both cities had teams in the Western Hockey League and Alberta Junior Hockey League . Pro hockey did not return until the World Hockey Association arrived in 1972 . Both cities received teams , but Calgary ' s Broncos folded without playing a game . The new Edmonton Oilers , then were left without an intra - provincial rival until a new WHA team , the Calgary Cowboys arrived in 1975 , but they folded after two years . The short and sporadic nature of the Calgary WHA franchises made building meaningful rivalries more difficult . The WHA itself was unstable and merged with the NHL in 1979 . Oilers vs . Flames . In recent years , one of the most intense and passionate expressions of this rivalry is the frequent matchups between the professional NHL hockey clubs based in each city - the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames . The Oilers joined the NHL as one of the teams making the switch from the World Hockey Association in 1979 . They were soon followed by the Atlanta Flames moving to Calgary in 1980 , making the question of who would reign as the top team in Alberta a hot topic . The Flames were the dominant squad in their inaugural season , finishing with 39 wins and 92 points and making it to the conference finals . The following year the Oilers became the dominant franchise and never looked back . Wayne Gretzky was shattering NHL records ( including his own ) , and the Oilers became the NHL ' s last dynasty , winning the Stanley Cup Championship in 1984 , 1985 , 1987 , 1988 , and 1990 with lineups that featured legends like Grant Fuhr , Paul Coffey , and Mark Messier . The Flames would not win the Stanley Cup until 1989 , led by superstars Lanny McDonald , Doug Gilmour and Mike Vernon . The Oilers defeated the Flames in the playoffs in 1983 , 1984 , 1988 , and 1991 , on their way to two of their five Stanley Cups . However , the Flames did get revenge ; the infamous 1986 Battle of Alberta was decided by rookie Oiler defenceman Steve Smith accidentally scoring on his own goal ( credited to Perry Berezan ) , which ignited the rivalry to a new level . The Flames were favored in the 1988 playoffs , but the Oilers swept the series and eventually went on to win the Cup . 1991 was last year the teams met in the playoffs , and it came down to the final game to decide the victor . Esa Tikkanen led the underdog Oilers to victory in overtime with his third goal of the game . It is often cited as one of the most exciting playoff series of all time . Due to the sheer talent and skill exhibited by both teams in the mid to late - 1980s , Alberta was considered a " Death Valley " for teams coming to play on a road trip , especially those from the Eastern conference . Even though 5 were won by the Oilers , an Albertan team won the Cup in 6 of 7 seasons between 1984 and 1990 . With the fortunes of both teams taking a slide during the 1990s , the rivalry cooled off . The passions ignited in the 1980s playoff sagas would only make brief appearances during the regular season . At this time , both franchises were facing financial hardships , and many experts were predicting the demise of all Canadian teams except the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens . These fears were proved partially justified , as both the Quebec Nordiques and the Winnipeg Jets relocated to American cities , in 1995 and 1996 respectively . It took well over a decade for either team to return to anything near the form they had exhibited in the 1980s . The Flames advanced to the Stanley Cup finals in 2004 , falling in seven games to the Tampa Bay Lightning . The Flames became the first team in the modern era of the NHL to defeat all three divisions winners en route to the Stanley Cup final . The next Stanley Cup final , ( played in 2006 due to the NHL lockout of 2005 ) saw the Edmonton Oilers fall in seven games to the Carolina Hurricanes . The Oilers became the first 8th seed in NHL history to advance past the semifinals , let alone make it to the Stanley Cup final . With the resurgent success as a result of these playoff runs , the rivalry has somewhat reignited . The 2009 – 10 NHL season marked the first time either team has won every game between the two , the Flames were 6 - 0 in regular season games against the Oilers . Oil Kings vs . Hitmen . Although not nearly as intense , the Western Hockey League intends to develop one for the Edmonton Oil Kings and Calgary Hitmen . The junior clubs are owned by the Oilers and Flames respectively . Both cities have had several franchises throughout the WHL ' s history . The original Oil Kings franchise faced the Calgary Centennials from the league ' s founding in 1966 until the Oil Kings relocation to Portland in 1976 . The Calgary Hitmen were formed in 1995 , followed a year later by the Edmonton Ice . The Ice never gained a foothold in Edmonton , and left for the Kootenays after two years . The Hitmen survived their initial struggles to grow into one of junior hockey ' s biggest drawing teams . The modern Oil Kings joined the WHL as an expansion franchise in 2007 . It should be noted that there are currently five Alberta - based WHL teams . In addition to Calgary and Edmonton , there are also the Medicine Hat Tigers , Lethbridge Hurricanes , and Red Deer Rebels and they all play together in one division , making for many intense intra - provincial battles .