EDMONTON, AB - At long last, we have hockey.
What better way to kick off a four-month-long National Hockey League layoff than with the Battle of Alberta?
Twelve Western Conference teams have touched down in Edmonton's NHL Hub City Secure Zone for the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers and Playoffs. Although the real games won't start until Saturday, Tuesday's exhibition affair with the Calgary Flames comes with no shortage of intrigue.
The provincial rivals have feuded on the ice for decades but the animosity was stoked over four regular-season matches. The Flames owned the season series with three wins and a single loss but that 8-3 defeat the Oilers handed them on Feb. 1, was arguably the most action-packed game of the NHL's calendar, featuring big hits, big goals and a goalie fight.
Zack Kassian was front and centre in the mayhem. The Oilers forward found himself engaged in skirmishes with Matthew Tkachuk but doesn't envision that fuming hostility Tuesday.
"It's going to be a high-intensity game," Kassian, who compiled 15 goals and 34 points in 59 games this season, said.
"At the same time, there's so much at stake for both teams going into the playoffs. Everyone's going to be smart. I don't think it's going to be like the last few games you saw."
Kassian has never been one to shy away from the physical side of the game but maintained that he and the rest of the Orange & Blue want to be ready for Game 1 of their best-of-five series against the Chicago Blackhawks.
"The Stanley Cup Playoffs isn't a time to get redemption," Kassian said. "It isn't a time to take stupid penalties. It's business and we're looking forward to the opportunity to playing a good Chicago team and hopefully moving on."
DON'T BURST THE BUBBLE
Members of the Oilers took Sunday and Monday to get comfortable in their new environments at the JW Marriott across the street from Rogers Place.
