Canadian NHL duel: spectacle, skirmishes and 15 goals in the "Battle of Alberta"

Ice hockey fans had to wait 31 years for the "Battle of Alberta".

Although the Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers meet several times each season in the main round of the North American professional league NHL, the duel for the Canadian state in the play-offs last happened in 1991.

But anyone who saw the first of a maximum of seven quarter-final games between the old rivals on Wednesday evening (local time) was compensated for the long wait.

The Flames and Oilers offered a spectacle that is rarely seen even in the NHL.

Not a minute was played before it was 2-0, in the second third Calgary led 5-1 and 6-2, which didn't bother the ice hockey pros from Edmonton around the German superstar Leon Draisaitl less.

Now they turned it up a notch and equalized to 6:6 in the final section - only to lose in the end.

Calgary ultimately won 9:6.

15 goals, 76 shots on goal, various skirmishes among the players, an almost trembling hall - this was a worthy repetition of one of the fiercest rivalries in the NHL.

It peaked in the 1980s and early 1990s when both teams were among the best in the league.

Between 1984 and 1990, the Stanley Cup went to Alberta in six of the seven years, mostly won by the Oilers with Wayne Gretzky's miracle team.

At the time, Edmonton and Calgary clashed, and it was indeed a battle of hard checks, brutal fouls and flying fists.

Blood on jerseys and ice was standard.

It never stopped completely, in a game almost two years ago even the goalkeepers of both teams hit each other.

And of course it rumbled again on Wednesday.

Thanks to Flames forward Milan Lucic, who previously played in Edmonton.

Guys like Lucic, who can do more with their fists than they can with the puck, have become rare in the NHL.

Also in Alberta.

You'll either have the likes of Calgary's Matthew Tkachuk, who can do both and scored a hat-trick on Wednesday, or you'll have fine spirits reigning supreme: Johnny Gaudreau with the Flames, Draisaitl and Connor McDavid with the Oilers.

McDavid had already collected 14 points in seven games in the first playoff round against Los Angeles.

He continued like this on Wednesday, scored one goal himself and prepared three.

Draisaitl was similarly strong with one goal and two assists.

Which is all the more remarkable considering he's struggling with an injured ankle.

Does it make sense in the long term to play anyway?

The question doesn't seem to arise.

Not when the “Battle of Alberta” is coming up for the first time in 31 years.