ON THE ROAD BETWEEN CALGARY AND EDMONTON, Alberta — A white sedan trundled down a quiet road in Gasoline Alley, a tiny hamlet alongside Highway 2, with two flags flapping in a Saturday breeze. One fluttered for the Edmonton Oilers hockey club and the other for the Calgary Flames, two of the fiercest rivals in sports, waving from the windows of the same car.
Red Deer is the geographical midpoint between Alberta’s two major cities — Edmonton to the north and Calgary due south — and loyalties can be split “about 52-48 for the Oilers,” as calculated by a server at a local Tim Hortons doughnut shop.