I’m pretty much a born-and-raised Calgarian. Well, almost. For the sake of truth and clarity, I was born in Red Deer but was hauled out of there at the age of 11 months when my parents moved to ‘The Stampede City’. I have all the accoutrements of a true Calgarian: Three or four cowboy hats; three pairs of cowboy boots; several dozen cowboy shirts; a radar-dish sized belt buckle, and; a bag full of string bolo ties. I can talk in a pretty good Texas accent that I picked up from listening to the real cowboys I’ve met from there, who come up here to compete in The Greatest Outdoor Show On Earth. I also have a deep and loving devotion to both the Calgary Stampeders and the Calgary Flames. I have four or five Stampeders jackets, jerseys, golf shoes and other paraphernalia, including a Grey Cup ring I received for negotiating the play-by-play contract between the Stamps and CHQR radio, a contract that is still in effect today. I was a Flames season ticket holder from day one, sitting in Row 6 in a ‘corner’ of the old Stampede Corral and moving on to the Saddledome, once again in a corner in Row 6. In 1986, I wrote The Flames Go Song, which became the number one song in Calgary that year when Lanny McDonald and company defeated the Edmonton Oilers, to advance to the team’s first Stanley Cup finals. .Which brings me to the point of this exercise. I hated the Oilers. Sure, they were some of the greatest players ever to play the game — Gretzky, Kurri, Messier, Tikkanen, Anderson, Coffey.... but I hated them. It didn’t matter what team they were playing; I cheered for the other team. Their string of beating my Flames and then going on winning streaks in the playoffs and winning Stanley Cups made me hate them even more. The only time through all those years that I appreciated the Oilers was in 1989, when the Flames beat them in the playoffs and went on to win the Stanley Cup against the Montreal Canadiens in their own arena. The Flames are the only NHL team to beat ‘The Habs’ for the Stanley Cup in the Forum. At the time, I acknowledged that the Oilers were a great team and that made the Flames good enough to win that Stanley Cup. My admiration was short lived, and I quickly reverted to cheering for whatever team was playing the Oilers. Until Tuesday night, when I watched my first game of these Stanley Cup playoffs, fully prepared to cheer for the Dallas Stars. .But something happened. An epiphany, perhaps. As the game unfolded, I found myself marveling at how good a team the Oilers are. Perhaps not ‘great’ as in the Gretzky years, but this version of the Oilers is certainly challenging that legacy. On the night, I was suddenly cheering for them, out loud no less. It was strange. It felt foreign. Something I had never done before. It didn’t feel bad; it didn’t make me feel like a traitor to my beloved Flames. And so, with this epistle, I’m coming out. I shall cheer for the Oilers as they make their run for the Stanley Cup this year and hope they are successful in their quest. This does not make me an Oilers fan for life. If I need any further justification for supporting them, I will claim they play for an Albertan team. I can say they play in the city where my favourite premier, Danielle Smith does her best work. I could say there is a quick escape back to Calgary down the QEII highway. But what I will say, for now, is “GO Oilers GO.” You heard it here first.
