'SO READY FOR THIS ONE'

You could sense the thickening tension and mercury-popping fever reaching a climax.
Three-hundred and seventy-one days later, the "hatred" remains.
"Personally, I'm still not happy about what happened the last time we faced these guys," said Matthew Tkachuk, who played a starring role in last year's theatre. "They came into our rink and took it to us pretty good. That's in the back of our minds and we want to come out here tonight and set the tone for the season."
Welcome to the Battle of Alberta.

Sure, the Vancouver-Calgary showdowns, admittedly, had some spice.
Out east, the Battle of Ontario between Toronto and Ottawa? Always a good time, too.
Even in junior, when Tkachuk and his London Knights locked horns with the Kitchener Rangers at the ol' Budweiser Gardens, it always lived up to the billing.
But when it comes to hockey's greatest punch-ups, with heroes and villains on both sides of the conflict, the Alberta discord stands alone.
"These are some of the best ones for me," Tkachuk declared. "If you can't get up for these games, there's something wrong.
"Our whole team is so ready for this one.
"You have two huge rivals; not just the teams on the ice, but the fans, the people in their cities. You see the passion from the fanbase, from the media, from the players. Once you play each other again, the electricity in the city when you play each other, especially on a Saturday night?
"Oh man.
"I think the hatred is definitely there."
Last year, the Flames and Oilers didn't meet until Dec. 27, 2019 - nearly three full months into the season when both were near the top of the standings. From there, they squared off another three times in a little over a month, with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Sean Monahan dropping the mitts in a spirited bout, Tkachuk levelling Zack Kassian with a pair of thunderous, goal-line body-checks (before fighting him in the next meeting), and former Flames puck-stoppers Cam Talbot and Mike Smith producing the first-ever goalie fight in Battle of Alberta history.

Most importantly, though, the Flames won three of the four matchups.
And while the homeside came out of the wrong end of an 8-3 score in the final encounter, glued to every split-second of the action was a nationwide television audience clamoring for more.
Tonight, it resumes.
"You're excited for the rivalry, excited for the matchup, excited for what the Battle of Alberta stands for," said Milan Lucic, who's played on both sides of the famed, QEII Quarrel. "I think unless you've been in Calgary or Edmonton at the time of one, whether you're at the game - especially - or at a sports bar, anything like that, it ramps up to another level.
"The outsiders kind of get a feel for how it is, but unless you're in Alberta during the moment, it's not an experience until you feel it that way."

Certainly, an empty Scotiabank Saddledome will change how this one feels. The best part of the Feb. 1 line brawl was how the 19,000-plus provided the ultimate soundtrack. They roared endlessly at deafening levels and the players feed off that.
Therefore, it's incumbent on the players themselves to ramp up the energy, be vocal on the bench, and get in the faces (and ears) of their opponents early to set the tone and turn up the volume.
That shouldn't be too difficult.
"In a rivalry game, I think the energy manifests itself," said Head Coach Geoff Ward. "It builds throughout the day as both teams prepare.
"Without a crowd, it's the moments of a game, the momentum changes, the big plays that happen that allow your guys to generate more.
"The players will have it within them from the beginning. We can't negate what the crowd does - we miss them and they provide a lot of energy - but in this game, I think both teams will have it right from the start.
"No question."