Battle of Alberta

The Battle of Alberta is the name given to the rivalry between Alberta's two big cities, Calgary, the most populous since 1976, and Edmonton, the provincial capital since 1905. It is used mostly for sporting contests between the two, though the rivalry is older than organized sport in the province; the Eskimos name reaches back to a 19th-century rugby football match in which the Calgary press mocked Edmonton's northern latitude by calling its residents Esquimeaux. For the Oilers the term describes their rivalry with the Calgary Flames, which grew out of several playoff meetings in the 1980s during the Oilers' dynasty years, most of them won by Edmonton, and is known for its high-scoring games and brutality. The junior clubs of the two cities, the Oil Kings and the Calgary Hitmen, carry the same label in the WHL.