[3] The Oilers were established as a World Hockey Association (WHA) team in 1972 and joined the NHL as a part of the NHL–WHA merger in 1979.

They were soon followed by the Atlanta Flames moving to Calgary in 1980, making the question of who would reign as the top team in Alberta a hot topic.

The Flames were the higher-ranked squad in their inaugural season, finishing with 39 wins and 92 points and making it to the Stanley Cup semifinals.

One of the two teams represented the Campbell Conference in the Stanley Cup Finals for eight consecutive years from 1983 to 1990 (Oilers six times, Flames twice).

The Edmonton Oilers of 1983–90 are recognized as one of the NHL's last great dynasties, with line-ups through this period that featured Hockey Hall of Fame (HHOF) legends like Gretzky, Glenn Anderson, Paul Coffey, Grant Fuhr, Kevin Lowe, Jari Kurri and Mark Messier, guided by HHOF coach Glen Sather.

As the Flames and Oilers were both in the Smythe Division, this made it very likely they would face each other in the first or second round, en route to the conference finals.

That same system made it a near-certainty that all other playoff qualifiers in the Campbell Conference faced the nearly unachievable (during that eight-year period) task of having to get past either the Oilers or Flames (or both) to make the Stanley Cup Finals.

The situation was not addressed until June 2005, when the NHL became the last major North American professional sports league to introduce a salary cap, coupled with improved revenue sharing.

The Flames became the first team in the modern era of the NHL to defeat all three division winners en route to the Stanley Cup Finals.

[11][12] The next Stanley Cup Finals, (played in 2006 due to the NHL lock-out of 2004–05) saw the Edmonton Oilers fall in seven games to the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Oilers became the first eighth seed in NHL history to advance past the semifinals, let alone make it to the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Flames’ sweep of the Oilers in 2009–10 was significant in the sense that they tied the rivalry's win–loss–tie overall regular season and playoff series (since the team's move to Calgary) on December 28, 2009.

Tkachuk did not fight back and assumed a defensive position, leading Kassian to be given a double-minor penalty for roughing and a misconduct.

In the third period, a controversial goal by Flames player Blake Coleman was called off for being knocked in with a kicking motion, resulting in the game remaining tied.