Behind the Blog: Battle of Alberta
Today’s Behind the Blog features Matt and Sacamano, the guys who run Battle of Alberta. I apologize for not getting this up earlier today, but I had three appointments that kept me busy. This BtB is much longer than previous ones because there are two people answering each question.
Sacamano is the Edmonton Oilers fan who is looking forward to tonight’s game and hoping the Oilers can tie up the series. Matt is the Calgary Flames fan who wishes he was watching his team return to the Stanley Cup Finals. Both are entertaining writers who joke around with each other, analyze interesting statistics, and provide their postgame thoughts.
Q.1 – When did you create Battle of Alberta and what made you do so?
Matt: Mid-September of 2005, a few weeks before the season started. I had been blogging more about hockey at my old general blog more, and found that it was pretty much the only thing I was interested in writing about.
The anticipation was pretty high in both Calgary and Edmonton, so this format just seemed like a good idea. It was originally going to be a bigger group weblog, but it seemed to be going well early on with just the two of us. Plus, most other good candidates for contributing to our blog already have their own.
(Alternate, more mystical answer: it came to me while eating some Taco Bell.)
Sacamano: Matt gets all the credit/blame. We both came from the world of general purpose blogging; but, I tired of that pretty quickly, and I guess Matt did too. We went to high school together in Calgary and had a few jobs together after that, so we kept in touch even though he was living down in Lethbridge while I had moved up to Edmonton. He just emailed me up one day and suggested it. Given how good the two teams looked at the start of the season and how excited folks in the two cities were after the lockout, the timing seemed perfect.
Q.2 – Do you guys ever get annoyed with one another? Especially after one team loses in the playoffs and the other goes on to another round?
Matt: Nah. Sacamano is far too lovable, and we’ve been friends for too long. The only upside to the Oilers’ run has been how much fun he’s been having.
Sacamano: I haven’t yet been annoyed by Matt – well, no more than I ever was – but maybe that is because it was my team that made it through. Actually, I was most annoyed with the fact that Calgary lost and prevented a Battle of Alberta Western Conference Final. The stars were all aligned but . . . .
Q.3 – What makes Alberta such a hockey place?
Matt: Hard to say exactly. There is about 110 years of history behind the Battle of Alberta, and minor hockey participation is pretty good too. The population threshold for a small community in this province to have a hockey arena is probably around 1000. (For a curling rink, it’s about 500).
Sacamano: I’m not sure Alberta is any more of a hockey place than anywhere else in Canada (doesn’t Saskatchewan send more players per capita to the NHL than any other province?), I just think that we were fortunate to have had two amazing teams playing each other at the same time. The legacy of the 80’s Oilers and Flames has persisted in the fanbase, which makes it a pretty fun place to follow hockey—at least when the teams are doing well.
Q.4 – What advice would you give to fellow bloggers, especially newcomers?
Matt: Do whatever you want, whatever pleases and amuses you. If it feels like work, I don’t know why you’re bothering.
Sacamano: I’m not sure I’ve been in the game long enough to really give too much advice. Like everyone says, having fun is the most important. I think format really helps with this – I got bored pretty quickly of my first general issues blog, probably because the subject matter was just way too wide open and it seemed like everyone else was doing the same thing – only better. For me, The Battle of Alberta worked well for a few reasons. First, it provides a nice anchor to a pretty narrowly defined subject, while still allowing us the opportunity to talk about hockey more broadly. Second, the “adversarial†format made it really fun. I noticed that in your Behind the Blog feature with JP (Jon) from Japers Rink, he noted: “trash talking is such an integral part of hockey and being a third-party observer to buddies (I think) dishing it back and forth in a friendly manner is great fun.†That was exactly how the BofA started – two old high school buddies poking fun at each other. It’s basically what we would have been doing anyway, so, hey, why not let other people participate too?
Q.5 – What do you hope to achieve with your blog over the next few years?
Matt: I don’t even know what we’re trying to achieve next month. See Answer #4.
Sacamano: To be honest, I’m not entirely sure what the future holds, if anything. I’ll be moving out of the country soon, and I’m just not sure I’ll have the time to devote to it, especially without the ability to check out the Oilers first hand. On the other, a whole lot of the Oilers bloggers live outside of Edmonton, and they do a fantastic job, so maybe it is possible. Frankly, the fact that we helped phrases like “The Orbs of Power†enter the general lexicon is as good a legacy as we could probably ever hope to achieve.
Q.6 - When did you become an Edmonton Oilers fan? Calgary Flames fan?
Matt: The Flames came to Calgary the same season I started playing hockey myself, right before Grade 2. It came together nicely, as my Dad got half-season tickets as well.
It’s possible that if the Flames hadn’t come for another couple of years, I would have ended up an Oil fan (shudder). My Grandpa in Edmonton was the only guy I remember back then who had an interest in pro hockey, and he was a huge Oiler fan. It could have rubbed off, were it not for the timely arrival of the Flames in Calgary.
Sacamano: Given that I grew up in Calgary, I was obviously a Flames fan first. A big Flames fan. But, somewhere around the early 90’s I basically lost interest in watching the NHL. In 1996 I moved to Edmonton which was around the time that Edmonton started pulling some first round upsets (Colorado 1998, Dallas, etc.).
It wasn’t until January 17th, 1999, however, that I became a full blown Oilers fan after winning the “Canadian Tire/Edmonton Oilers Ultimate Fan Experience”: buffet dinner, stick signed by Bucky, t-shirt, cap, Oilers away sweater, $25 of certificates good for food or beer, and two lower bowl seats at this beauty of a game.
So, in short, my allegiances were purchased. I felt guilty about it for about 2 minutes. Edmonton is just a terrific sports town that it is a total blast to cheer for the local team along with everyone else.
Q.7 – Why did the Oilers make it to the Stanley Cup finals this year? And what about the Flames caused them to miss out on a repeat trip?
Matt: The Oilers are really good, I don’t know that there’s much more to say. They addressed their one brutal weakness at the trading deadline by picking up Roloson. They create a lot of scoring chances, and do a pretty decent job preventing them. Plus, they’ve been lucky: I don’t mean any particular individual bounces, just that you have to be to get this far.
In the same sense, the Flames were a bit unlucky. Also, I think the team system, or mindset, probably went too far in the Defensive direction. Their scoring was pretty good on the PP and when they got behind, but they were pretty conservative otherwise. I think they need to adjust their system to allow for more chances, odd man rushes, etc. both for and against. They have a terrific goalie and group of defensemen; I’d like to see their style of play rely a bit more on those guys making plays.
Sacamano: This one is easy. The Oilers are good, the Flames aren’t.
Q.8 - When did you attend your first hockey game and who was playing?
Matt: I went to the Flames’ 3rd ever home game at age 7, which IIRC was a 5-4 loss to the Leafs and certainly the latest I had ever stayed up in my life. Before that, I went once to a WHL game between the Calgary Wranglers (in goal: Michael Vernon) and the Billings Bighorns. I don’t remember who won, just that the snacks were good.
Sacamano: I actually have no idea. The First Oilers game I was ever at was the one that converted me. I honestly think that the first Flames game I was ever at was with Matt this season – and what a game it was! Before that, I remember going to see the Calgary Wranglers play the Brandon Wheat Kings. And I remember going to see one game with the Soviet team during the 1988 Olympics, although I can’t even remember who they were playing.
Q.9 – What first attracted you to the sport of hockey?
Matt: I was going to say that it’s way too long ago to remember, but that’s not quite right. I just was, and am: there was never anything resembling an evaluation or decision-making process. You might as well ask me why I’m heterosexual.
Sacamano: I’m not sure you really have a choice up here. I mean, of course you have a choice, but when you are introduced to hockey through a childhood of road hockey, Saturday meals around Hockey Night in Canada, and the 80’s Battle of Alberta, it would have been pretty difficult for any elementary school kid growing up in Alberta during the 70’s/80’s not to have developed some sort of attraction to the game. I’m actually one of those rare Canadian kids who didn’t ever play the game in an organized league. But I still maintain that I was one of the top street-hockey players of my generation.
Q.10 - Who is your favorite hockey player (either current or retired player)? Why?
Matt: Close call, but probably Al Macinnis. Honourable mentions go to Theo Fleury, Joe Nieuwendyk, Gary Roberts, and Jamie Macoun. My first ever favourite player was #25, Paraguay’s own Willi Plett.
Sacamano: I think the slot for favourite all-time hockey player gets filled pretty early in childhood, and it takes something pretty horrific to dislodge them. So – and this is going to get me into a whole world of trouble – I’m going to have to go with Lanny MacDonald. As a kid playing road hockey, though, I was always Guy Lafleur or Vladislav Tretiak. My Dad’s favourite team, before the Flames came to town, was always the Habs, so that is probably why.
Q.11 – What did you do to pass the time during the lockout last year?
Matt: Mainly fumed at the media. It still bothers me that so much of what the owners and Bettman said was basically taken at face value by hockey pundits. My big question to all professional hockey pundits remains: How will you evaluate whether the new CBA is successful? I don’t think many of them have given any consideration at all to this, which means next time, things won’t be different in the slightest. Even though the players surrendered unconditionally this time, whatever problems the NHL has next time negotiations begin will be laid on the players, and whatever the owners propose as a “solution†will be taken as the obvious and correct way to go by just about everyone. Again.
Sacamano: I was actually in the midst of writing a dissertation, so it was pretty good timing.
Q.12 –What are your predictions for the Stanley Cup finals?
Matt: I’m hoping for Canes in 6, but I have no idea. There’s no question that the Oil can still win even with Conkannen in net, but it’ll depend on their mindset, and again, how the bounces go.
Sacamano: I was pretty confident before the series started, and picked the Oilers in 6, but with the Oilers down two games and Roloson out, I don’t know. I’m still cautiously optimistic that they can pull it out . . .
Q.13 – Where do you see the NHL in 5 years? Why?
Matt: No idea. My fervent hope is that the NHL basically abandons their effort to gain a national presence in the U.S., and just OWNS AND LOVES their status as a power (to varying degrees) in 30 individual markets. The strength of the league is not the NHL brand per se, it’s the franchises. If there’s one thing that bugs me most about the CBA, it’s the disincentive for franchises to take risks in their own interest. Also, I expect that the quality of hockey will be excellent.
Sacamano: This is one that Matt will probably be able to address better than me because he spends more time than I do thinking and writing about the state of the game. I have a pretty short attention span and really don’t care about the behind the scenes mechanics of the game (contracts, bargaining agreements, etc.). As long as there is still a team in Edmonton I’m fine. Unlike some, I think that the NHL does a pretty good job at giving the fans quality entertainment for a reasonable price.
Q. 14 - Which team surprised you the most this season? Disappointed you?
Matt: Anaheim surprised me the most, and not just the playoff run: they were terrific for the last three-quarters of the season, and I expected them to be lousy. Disappointing, I guess the Wild. I’m glad the Flames got to punk on them over and over, but they ought to be more successful by this point. From the intensely personal, playoffs-included perspective, the answer to this question is the Oilers and the Flames.
Sacamano: The way that Vancouver ended up was pretty disappointing. Not for me, mind you. But it must have been pretty disappointing for Canucks fans. I think I’ll go with Dallas for biggest surprise, despite their early flame out in the playoffs. I really didn’t think they would rebound as well as they did this season. Having said that, I suspect that their regular season record was inflated by all of those Jussi Jokinen shootout wins, but still, they sure looked good for a while there and I was petrified of another Oilers first round loss to the Stars.
Q.15 – Is there any hockey blog or website that you look to for inspiration?
Matt: I don’t know about inspiration, and there’s about a dozen blogs that I’d rate as excellent, but I absolutely think that the two best sites are Covered in Oil (for the entertainment value) and mc79hockey (for the analysis). It’s a source of much frustration and shame for me that Oiler blogs are the best in the league (and that the Flames “blog presence†is zippo), but there you have it.
Sacamano: I think a huge part of what makes our site so fun for me has been all of the commentors from all of the other Oilers blogs. The “Oilogosphere†(as coined by Madcrutch) seems to have it all—excellent statistics oriented folks (e.g., Mudcrutch, IOF, “old†guys/gals who have seen it all (Lowetide, Cosh), “young†guys/gals who are reliving their 80’s childhood (CinO), Funny Obsessives (e.g., UIUFC), and some that have a bit of everything (BDHS, Sports Matters), etc. And they are all such terrific writers and funny people that it is hard to not be inspired by their passion. During the playoffs I’ve also been reading more of the other teams’ blogs, which has been great. The Wings fans were a tonne of fun during Round 1 (your site, Abel to Yzerman, On the Wings), Earl Sleek’s BofC is starting to bring together lots of fantastic material on the California teams. The Caniacs (e.g, Red and Black, Cason, Sweet Tea . . .) are great. During the regular season I also read a few of the Canucks blogs, which were pretty hilarious (Canucks OpEd, Canucks Hockey Blog). And then, of course, all the usual suspects that I check in on everyday like Mirtle, Razor, Off Wing Opinion, Hockey Rants, Japers’ Rink, Sisu, Sidearm Delivery — there are just so many good sites out there. I’m sure I’ve missed a bunch.
Any additional comments?
Matt: This is a great feature, Christy, and thanks for the invite. Also, if Sacamano’s answers above are particularly combative or trash-talk-y, I take back every nice and conciliatory word I said about the Oilers.
Sacamano: Thanks a lot for inviting us. Your Behind the Blog feature is one of my favourite things on the web.
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