Whether on Hockey Night in Canada, or on the highlight shows the next morning, Zach Whitecloud knows all about the Battle of Alberta.
Tonight, he'll get to experience it as a player for the first time, as the Flames welcome the Oilers to the Scotiabank Saddledome in both teams' final contest before the Olympic break. SECURE TICKETS
"I've only heard stories and heard lore about it," Whitecloud said Wednesday morning in a quick conversation following the team's optional skate. "I've seen it on TV growing up (in Manitoba). Obviously had buddies that played in it. Obviously watching the highlights the next morning of the games, you know, they're obviously physical and pretty rough. So I'm excited for that."
Tonight's contest will be Whitecloud's eighth as a Flame. And since arriving in Calgary, he's seen his ice-time increase by over four minutes a game - to 22:56 - on a pairing with Kevin Bahl.
And so while he's faced the Oilers many a time before as a Golden Knight - both in divisional battles and in a pair of playoff series - tonight's game will hit a bit differently.
This time, he's in a top-four role, and there's a strong chance he and Bahl will spend time defending the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
"Those matchups are something you crave every single night, right?" Whitecloud said. "You're going into those, not expecting, but you're aiming to come out on the right side of those matchups, and more often than not, you know, as a D pair with Bahler, if you come out on the right side of chances for, chances against and zone time, you're gonna give your team a chance to win, and that's exciting for Bahler and I to be able to go up against whatever line we're going up against.
"It's something I know in my repertoire has been more of a third-pair guy in the past. And getting these opportunities now is something that excites me and gives me a lot of pride. Not everyone gets to be in that role."
It's bound to be a second straight noisy night beneath the Saddle, and Head Coach Ryan Huska figures that Whitecloud will embrace that energy, the history, of what the Battle of Alberta is all about.
"He's gonna get a real good sense of it, like, he is a Canadian guy. So I think he understands when Canadian teams play against each other, he saw when Toronto was here what the building was like. So he's had a taste of it now.
"This would be a different level for him again, but I think he already has an understanding of what these games are typically like. So I'm assuming he's going to enjoy it a lot tonight."
While the pomp and circumstance of a Battle of Alberta is understandably special, especially for a player experiencing it for the first time, Whitecloud is parlaying the 'big-game' energy of the matchup with a desire to finish the pre-Olympic portion of the schedule with a win.
Given the fact that after tonight, Flames don't see game action in front of the C of Red until March, the time is nigh for he and his mates to give themselves - and Calgarians - a bit of good cheer.
The importance of this for the city and the heightened awareness around the city for these matchups is really exciting for me," said Whitecloud. "I've had people text me and things like that about this (rivalry), and so obviously, that kind of goes to say big it is. I've obviously had a lot of battles with the Oilers in the past, and playing where I came from (Vegas), you don't like those guys already.
"They've got some of the best players in the world, so it's a good challenge for us to go into the break on a good note."
