This past weekend we had the pleasure of packing almost sixty Oiler fans into a bus and road tripping all the way to the Saddledome to watch the first Battle of Alberta this season!

Unfortunately, the boys couldn’t pull a win out at the Saddledome but that didn’t put a damper on the fun times we had. (Alright, maybe it put a little damper). As expected, everywhere we went after the game in our Oilers jerseys we were being chirped at by Flames fans and I expect nothing less from them.

Our trip began with a quick pit stop at Righand Distillery in Nisku. The people at Righand are good friends of ours and the proud supplier of Nation Vodka. Our boy Geoff hooked everybody up with some drinks, and we even got screeched in (Alberta style) with some Beet Rum and Double Double. Afterwards, we trek’d the icy roads of the QEII and stopped at Hybrid in Red Deer for a bite to eat.

Once we hit Calgary we checked into the Sandman hotel downtown. We had just enough time to watch the Habs crush the Canucks on Hockey Night in Canada and then we were off to the Saddledome. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, the Saddledome is a garbage building and I feel bad for all Flames fans who have to put up with it. After our 10km hike up to the nosebleeds, we found our seat and got prepared for one hell of a first period. As fun as that period was, unfortunately, it came to an abrupt end. The end of the game came quickly and we spent the remainder of the night drowning our sorrows at Knoxville’s and Singapore Sams.

Shovel update: In case you didn’t know, last year when we saw the Oilers lose to the Flames in the Saddledome, Cooom swiped a shovel from the inside of the Saddledome to take out his frustration on. The shovel ended up being stored inside Nation HQ for seven months until we returned it this weekend. And by “returned,” I mean security took it away from us. Don’t worry though, Cam replaced the shovel by taking a newer, much nicer one from the same spot this time around.

Overall, this awesome trip wouldn’t have happened without the help of our good friends at Backside Tours. We look forward to hosting another trip to Calgary at the end of the season, and maybe even participate in a couple of Backside’s mountain trips this winter! Check out their website to see everything they offer. I also wanted to thank everybody who joined us on the road trip and for those who met up with us in Red Deer and Calgary. Looking forward to the next one!