Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
The Canadian media is championing the Oilers because they’re Canada’s best shot at the Cup. Canadian media went bananas for the Flames back when the Red Mile was going on. There’s nothing conspiratorial about their promotion of the Oilers. Want more attention from the Canadian media? Be a better team.
As for McDavid, well no #### the best player in the game gets lots of attention. That’s how pro sports works. And actually the NHL comes under a lot of criticism for not promoting its stars enough compared to other pro leagues. McDavid doesn’t get anywhere near the media coverage he would get if he was the top player in the NFL or NBA in an American market.
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The history is what it is though. Be a better team might work in isolation, but the Flames can't and likely never will match the lore that the Oilers have in the NHL. If things were reversed, of course the Flames would be the media darlings, but short of building a time machine, it's not going to change and likely never will. Creating that is rare and takes a huge amount of luck and time to settle in. Every sports league has their darlings so I don't see why it's a controversial idea.
If you don't think some of the older guys in the media aren't reliving their youth vicariously through the Oilers, that's fine. Maybe you're right, but I think there is a bias based on the history and not just the current stars on the team.
As for the 2004 run where the Flames were being billed as "Canada's team", it was different because the Oilers weren't there. If there was a BoA in that run, I doubt the media would have promoted them equally. I also recall a lot of Flames fans spurning the idea and not wanting that label. Unlike most Oiler fans who seem to really believe it.