Quote:
Originally Posted by dino7c
What planet are some of you from??
The media was pumping the Oilers as future cup winners with the rosters they had BEFORE McDavid or Drai! I have video evidence!
Not how but how many...those were the rosters that were so bad the draft rules were changed ironically resulting in them getting McDavid. So the roster that produced a McDavid lottery win was seen a cup contender while the worst Flames roster of all time got a 4th overall pick.
There is MAJOR bias...those things mentioned are factors but come on now.
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I don't know if this was directed at me, but to be clear, I agree that there is a major bias. I just also think the factors that created it are worth discussing.
As far back as I recall, the Oilers were always the preferred media darlings. When the Flames were competing with the Oilers in the 80's, the common narrative in the media outside of Calgary was, "look at these baddies trying to spoil the Great One's party". They often tried to make the Flames sound like a team of meatheads that shouldn't be allowed to get in the way. Despite being one of the more talented teams in their own right, they were often portrayed as villains. Fairy tale heroes are pretty boring story without a nemesis, and storylines sell. The 1980s Oilers were easy to portray as heroes because they had the most marketable player and multiple championships, and the Flames being the interprovincial rival were easy to portray as the enemy. Again, I grew up outside of Alberta and recognized it even back then. If you watched Flames/Oilers highlights and the Flames won, they made it sound like a crappy night in sports for the whole country.
Then when the Oilers were bad, they filled the void by always talking about the glory years, how they were building for the future, and how every following season was finally going to be the turning point. It was always non-stop positivity. With the Flames, the focus tended to always be on the negative which still seems to be be the case now, with some exceptions but not many. The peak Iginla years broke the trend a little bit, so people who started paying attention at that point, probably have a different perspective.