While the battle between the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames is heating up in Alberta, it has also made its way into Saskatchewan.
Sports bars and stores have been busy ever since the two teams first met in Game 1 of the second round.
Fans have been waiting since 1991 for the two teams to play each other in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Now that the time has finally come, fans are cheering loud with their voice and their wallets.
“It’s been 31 years so everyone is excited for it,” said Cord Ivanco, an Olympian Sports salesperson. “You want to support your team and so you got to buy jerseys, hats, whatever it is to support your team. So absolutely (the merchandise) has been flying off the shelves.”
Sports bars in Saskatoon have been full during games with people cheering on their favourite team.
“We’ve had to open our back room for it,” said Emma Bartlett, a supervisor at Hudsons Canada’s Pub Saskatoon. “We play the game with sound on as well every night so people love it.”
Ivanco said jerseys sales have increased during the teams’ playoff run. And some might say the store is strategically placing Oilers and Flames memorabilia in hopes of selling more.
“Calgary and Edmonton being the two closer teams, the farther they get into the playoffs, obviously people are going to come in and buy more stuff and wear it around because you are proud of your team making it to the next round,” he said.
Local businesses hope there will be even more situations like this down the road, not just with the Battle of Alberta, but for all Canadian teams.
“We’ve had a lot of business for that,” said Bartlett. “Everyone is getting really excited about two Canadian teams being in the second round and we also had a lot of big business when the Toronto Maple Leafs were (playing) as well.”
The Oilers currently lead the best-of-seven series 2-1, with a chance to take a 3-1 series lead with a win Tuesday night in Edmonton.
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