Last time the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames met on Jan. 11, it was a very eventful game. The biggest moment came late in the second period when Matthew Tkachuk delivered a questionable hit on Zack Kassian as he was carrying the puck behind the net. While Flames fans loved the hit, Kassian had a very different opinion, he immediately grabbed Tkachuk and began hitting him with a series of punches before slamming him to the ice numerous times.
As we know, the Flames ended up scoring the game winner on the ensuing power play, and Kassian was handed a two-game suspension.
In the following days many players, analysts, and fans voiced their opinions on the incident, most could agree that Kassian should not have been suspended for defending himself and that Tkachuk should have answered the bell and fought back after delivering a questionable hit like that, while others think that Tkachuk had no reason to answer the bell and that his hits were clean.
Fast forward to today, Jan. 29, and the Oilers and Flames are facing off for the first time since that incident, but Kassian is downplaying the chance of fireworks in tonight's highly anticipated match up.
"Hey, listen. I thought I got enough good shots in there," Kassian told Sportsnet's Mark Spector, referring to the last meeting between the two clubs.
"This isn't the '80s. We're not just going to line brawl. Look at the standings. It's going to be a hard-fought, intense game. But we really have to play between the lines."
After the game, Tkachuk and Kassian added fuel to fire by exchanging chirps through media, the situation blew up and it has been the talk of the NHL for the better part of January. Fans couldn't wait for the next Battle of Alberta, things got even more exciting when fans started to bring up the possibility of Kassian fighting Milan Lucic or Zac Rinaldo, or even the chance of Tkachuk answering the bell and squaring off against Kassian himself.
Soon after, the league got involved and issued a warning to both teams and announced that George Parros would also be in attendance. Parros is the Head of the Department of Player Safety.
With such an important game on the line, Kassian doesn't think this is the time to get his revenge, but he did say that he wouldn't pass up the opportunity to take a shot at Tkachuk if it's within the rules.
"I thought, what happened on the ice, I handled it for the most part," Kassian said. "I got the punishment, and that's that. Obviously we don't like each other. Obviously if Tkachuk has the puck and I can hit him clean, I'm not going to pass on it, right? But that's the game of hockey. I don't think anyone is going to pass on a hit - especially in the Battle of Alberta."
The race for first in the Pacific Division is extremely tight right now. Vancouver leads the way with 60 points, Calgary is in second with 58, and Edmonton, Vegas, and Arizona are all tied with 57 points. We're at the time of year where teams can't afford to lose games, especially to division rivals, that's why tonight's Battle of Alberta is so important for both teams. If Edmonton wins, they can leap frog Calgary and slide into second place, but if Calgary wins they'll move into a tie for first in the division.
