Whenever the Oilers and Flames meet, fans on both sides trade chirps. That didn’t change at Sunday’s rookie game in Calgary. During the shootout, Flames supporters reportedly tried to get under Edmonton’s skin by chanting Connor McDavid’s name.

TSN reporter Salim Nadim Valji posted on X that a “McDavid’s leaving” chant broke out inside the Saddledome.

Plenty of Oilers fans who were there pushed back. Several said they never heard it at all and figured the building would have been much louder if a full section had joined in.

Adrian Fernando, who attended the game, wrote, “I did not hear this at all.” Another fan using the handle @KylerK said they didn’t hear it either and that the lower bowl around them stayed focused on the shootout.

So who’s telling the truth? Valji is a reputable reporter and would not invent something like this out of thin air. At the same time, arenas are noisy, and sound doesn’t travel evenly. Something loud in one pocket can vanish a few sections over. In other words, both things can be true: a chant happened, and many people didn’t catch it.

One reply on X from @HowlVakarian helped square the circle: “Heard people chanting, couldn’t make out the words. It happened, but it was only one row of guys.” Another fan in Section 120 added, “We couldn’t hear it clearly, but we heard the chanting.”

None of this should surprise anyone. The Battle of Alberta comes with built-in heckling. Oilers fans have answered with their own building-wide barbs over the years, including the infamous “F**k the Flames” chant that tends to surface whenever the rivalry warms up.

Until Connor McDavid signs his extension, opposing crowds will keep taking their shots, and they will point to any rumor or report to stir the pot. Oilers fans are waiting for that signature to quiet the noise around No. 97 and refocus the conversation where it belongs, which is on the ice.