A recent poll taken by JFresh Hockey asked fans which fanbases they found the most annoying. According to that, Edmonton Oilers fans hate Toronto Maple Leafs fans the most, followed by Vancouver Canucks fans and then Vegas Golden Knight fans to round out the podium.
The above fanbases all make sense. Maple Leafs fans think the world revolves around them and are convinced that Connor McDavid is bolting to Toronto the second he hits free agency.
Interestingly, the Seattle Kraken was the only team that did not have Toronto in their top three, which I think is due to the fact that given Seattle’s newness to the league and the fact they play in the Pacific time zone, Maple Leaf fans don’t actually know this team exists and so haven’t gotten around to being their usual selves to Seattle’s fanbase. Just wait until local Toronto boy Vince Dunn’s contract is up in 2027 though, then I’m sure the fanbase will turn their sights on the Kraken.
Canucks fans are viewed by some Oilers fans as bandwagon fans, and Vegas fans didn’t earn themselves any favours in last year’s playoff series when they defended Alex Pietrangelo’s attempted arm amputation slash on Leon Draisaitl.
Oilers fans should be a bit humbled about our own attitudes though, as eight fanbases included us in their top three, we are tied with the New York Rangers for #2.
Despite fanbase, which teams are really hated by Oilers fans?
But what about hatred of the actual teams themselves?
A first thought when reading the list was probably “what about the Calgary Flames?” After all, no one can deny the animosity that comes with the Battle of Alberta.
But frankly, Flames fans aren’t actually all that bad. I find you can tend to have reasonable conversations with them (or at least, as reasonable as one can get when it comes to fans of rival teams) and chirping with them is like chirping your brother. Meanwhile, Toronto fans are like talking to that spoiled rich kid at your school who thinks he’s the best at everything and that every girl wants him but he’s loyal to his girlfriend in Canada (does that joke still work when we are in Canada?).
But no one can doubt that Oilers fans HATE the Flames with a passion. So let’s look at the actual teams that Oilers fans hate, fanbase notwithstanding. We won’t include any of the above three teams, as we already have some idea why they are hated.
Calgary Flames
As stated above, the Flames are the Oilers biggest rival, bar none.
The Battle of Alberta in the ‘80s was something fierce, as the Oilers and Flames were two of the best teams in the league (one of them was in the finals every year from 1983 to 1990) during an era where you needed tough guys riding shotgun with your stars for their protection.
The Oilers and Flames faced off in the playoffs five times in eight years, and that certainly helped cement the rivalry.
The rivalry wasn’t quite as fierce for a while, as both teams were small market teams struggling to keep afloat, and another team entered the fray for Oilers fans during that time.
The hatred started rekindled on January 11, 2020 in a fight between Zack Kassian and Matthew Tkachuk:
Kassian’s ragdolling and Tkachuk’s turtling got the fans going, with Oilers fans making turtle memes about Tkachuk, prompting Calgary fans to actually raise funds to put up a “Matthew Tkachuk Friendship Tour” billboard in Edmonton.
You gotta know the NHL knew that they had a marketing gold mine on their hands, as they handed out a two-game suspension to Kassian…which meant his first game back was a rematch against the Flames.
As everyone expected, the first fight of the game near the end of the first period was between *checks notes* Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Sean Monahan?
Shortly after the surprise undercard, Tkachuk stepped up to the plate and fought Kassian, which then appeared to perhaps settle the whole feud down.
But, by a stroke of fate from the NHL schedule maker, the Oilers and Flames faced off yet again three days later. And this time, the Battle of Alberta exploded.
The night started off with yet another unexpected fight, with Jujhar Khaira and Buddy Robinson squaring off right before a commercial break.
And then the fireworks went off:
After Sam Gagner pokes Cam Talbot looking for a rebound, Talbot took exception, resulting in a line brawl. Everyone picks a partner, with Ethan Bear and Matthew Tkachuk going after each other.
Then, the moment every hockey fan loves: the goalie fight. Mike Smith had gone up to centre ice when he saw Talbot chucking ‘em, with the iconic leaning on his stick waiting to go. Props has to go to Darnell Nurse for pointing that out to Talbot to make sure the iconic moment happened.
This string of games led to a modern version of the BoA, which culminated in the first playoff series between the two teams in 21 years, and frankly was the most entertaining series that year. The teams combined for 45 goals in only five games, and ended on a Connor McDavid series winning OT goal in Game 5 that was not without controversy.
Unfortunately, the rivalry has fizzled out a bit with both teams disappointing since then. However, the fact remains that if you ask Oilers fans who they would cheer for outside of the Oilers, you are more likely going to get the response of ABC: Anyone But Calgary.
Dallas Stars
If you grew up watching the Oilers in the late ‘90s, then you absolutely HATED the Dallas Stars.
From 1997 to 2001, the Oilers faced the Stars every single year in the playoffs. After a one year break in 2002, the Oilers and Stars met again in 2003.
The Oilers actually won the first series between the teams, off a thrilling Game 7 OT where Curtis Joseph stood on his head just in time for Todd Marchant to notch the series winner:
This was a huge upset, as the Stars were the second best team in the league who had beaten the Oilers in all four meetings that season, outscoring them 18–6. The Oilers ran a payroll below $20M, and were in the midst of potential relocation talks after seeing both the Winnipeg Jets and Quebec Nordiques move to the US.
Unfortunately, the Stars would go on to beat the Oilers in the playoffs the next four seasons straight by a total record of 16–4, and then 4–2 again in 2003.
One of my earliest memories is going to Game 4 of Round 1 in 1999. On the brink of elimination, the Oilers took the lead twice, but the Stars came back and forced overtime. The game ended up going to the third OT, when less than three minutes in Joe Nieuwendyk scored to eliminate the Oilers. The only good thing that came of that was because it was like 2 am, I got to miss school the next day.
The Stars represented the issues of the small-market Oilers in the ‘90s, and other than one glorious series win (which was followed by a 4–1 series loss to the Colorado Avalanche, who along with being a big market team were the recipient of a relocated small market Canadian team), dominated the Oilers to show that when David faces Goliath, more often than not Goliath wins.
The introduction of the salary cap and the change in the playoff structure has meant the Oilers and Stars have not met in the playoffs since 2003, which has lessened the intensity of the rivalry and likely most younger fans don’t even have any ill will towards Dallas. But anyone who grew up during that time period still feels that hatred to this day.
Anaheim Ducks
As usual, playoffs tend to lead to animosity.
But the Oilers and the Anaheim Ducks have only faced off twice in the playoffs.
The first was during the Oilers Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2006, where they beat the Ducks 4–1 in the Western Conference Finals. It wasn’t the most interesting series, and frankly I always do a little “oh right” when I see the series mentioned.
But the second meeting in 2017 created a seething like none other amongst Oilers fans.
It was the second year of the McDavid era, and the young captain had scored 100 points in a season, the only player to do so that year. The Oilers had finished second in the Pacific Division, and had just won their first playoff series in 11 years against the San Jose Sharks.
The Ducks had finished first in the division despite winning less games than the Oilers (thanks Bettman).
No matter though, as the Oilers won the first two games on the road.
The Oilers lost the next two games at home, unfortunately, turning it into a best of three series, and the Oilers ultimately lost in seven games.
So why do Oilers fans have such hatred against the Ducks from this battle?
Well, honestly, it has more to do with the refs.
In Game 4, Corey Perry bumped Cam Talbot outside the crease as Ryan Getzlaf took a shot, scoring Anaheim’s first goal of the game 1:37 into the second period to cut the Oilers lead down to 2–1.
Oilers coach Todd McLellan challenged the goal, which was unsuccessful, leaving Oilers fans and NHL media befuddled.
The lost challenge meant the Oilers lost the ability to challenge again, which meant the next Duck’s goal, which was offside but was not called, stood.
Granted, the Oilers managed to tie the game and force OT, but losing that way was frustrating for sure.
You may wonder why that would really draw Oilers fans ire towards the Ducks, when really it should be towards the refs and the NHL.
Game 5 is why.
The Oilers were leading 3–0 with under four minutes to go, and looked poise to take a 3–2 series lead back home.
The Ducks rallied back, notching two goals in under a minute.
With 15 seconds left, the Ducks managed to tie the game up in a mad scramble of a goal.
Oilers fans were irate? Why? Well, how about another controversial no goalie interference call:
Ryan Kesler was pushed down into Talbot by Nurse. Everyone agrees with that. But it is mind boggling that the NHL would think that he didn’t purposefully hold Talbot’s pad after the fact. Granted, I’m not a doctor, so perhaps when Nurse knocked Kesler down it caused some kind of rare spasm that results in a person holding onto whatever object is right next to them and pulling it back, only to be able to immediately release it upon a puck then going into the net.
Alright, see how heated I just got? That’s how much this bothers Oilers fans. It doesn’t help that the team reverted back to a non-playoff team after this series.
This hatred is more projection than anything, but it still lingers to this day.
Also, personally, I hate that they moved away from their old logo and the eggplant and teal for the atrocity that is the duck foot logo, so until they rectify that mistake, I will never not hate them.
Los Angeles Kings
The rivalry with the Los Angeles Kings is a layered one. For older fans, the Miracle on Manchester and the Gretzky “trade” likely left a sour taste in their mouth when it came to the Kings, while in recent times the fact that the two teams have met in the first round the last two years in a row has sparked some animosity.
Current fans hatred peaked in Game 6 of the first series, when Kings defenceman Mikey Anderson dragged Leon Draisaitl down during a scrum, resulting in Draisaitl suffering a high ankle sprain that he would have to play through for the rest of the playoffs:
Granted, as a result, Draisaitl cemented himself as one of the best playoff performers in the league by not just managing to play through the injury, but posting a ridiculous 17 points in five games against the Flames, third most in a series in NHL history.
The bad blood continued the next season.
First, Alex Edler kneed Connor McDavid in November, in a play that was eerily similar to one against Zach Hyman years before.
Then in a game between the two teams on January 9, 2023, the teams traded fisticuffs three times: first Jesse Puljujarvi took on Phillip Danault, then Zach Hyman and Sean Durzi dropped the gloves, and the night finished off with Klim Kostin fighting Brendan Lemieux in the dying minutes. The game was looked at as a spark for the Oilers, as they would go ahead and rattle off six straight wins after.
That bad blood with Anderson also continued, with McDavid boarding him in the last meeting between the teams in the regular season.
This meant the Kings had their own beef with the Oilers leading into the second playoff meeting that year, with Drew Doughty “warning” that the Kings were going to “smack” McDavid every chance they got (because, you know, otherwise they wouldn’t try to at all right?).
All the above leads to no love being lost amongst the players, which then seeps out to the fans. Given that the divisional playoff format appears to be here to stay, the fact the Kings seem to be improving every year and hopefully the Oilers will get their act together, this could be a rivalry on par with Dallas in terms of amount of times the teams face each other in the playoffs. Let’s just hope the Oilers will be the ones dominating this time.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
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