52 individuals have played for both the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers

Folks, it’s the August long weekend, otherwise known as Alberta’s Heritage Day long weekend. As we enjoy the waning months of summertime, with a Heritage Classic between the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers just shy of three months away, it might be fun to delve into some hockey history.

As of now, 52 players have suited up for both the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers in regular season games. When he presumably plays for the Flames in the fall, blueliner Jordan Oesterle will be the 53rd member of the club.

Here are the 52 players, ordered by the date in which they joined the club (bolded).

Jalonen became the first player to play for both sides of the Battle of Alberta, and it happened during the same month. He was released by the Flames in early December 1983, with general manager Cliff Fletcher buying out his contract. A free agent, he signed with Edmonton and played three games before getting released (again) and returning to Finland.

Esau also had a weird journey between the two clubs. He played a handful of games with the Flames in 1993-94, but was claimed by the Oilers in the waiver draft preceding the 1994-95 season. He played 14 games for the Oilers but when they tried to demote him to the minors mid-season, he was claimed back off waivers by the Flames.

Overall, six goalies, 20 defencemen and 26 forwards have played for both teams. You’ll notice when skimming the names that most of them are, to be polite, more depth players than star players. And even most of the early stars to play for both teams were on the back nine of their NHL journeys by the time they switched sides – to cite examples: Kent Nilsson in Edmonton and Grant Fuhr and Steve Smith in Calgary.

The arrival and strong play of guys like Roman Hamrlik and Martin Gelinas with the Flames, and Andrew Ference and Mike Smith with the Oilers, are definitely outliers. While the frequently of players changing teams has definitely become super-charged as free agency became more prominent in team-building during the 1990s and the salary cap emerged in the 2000s, the Flames and Oilers aren’t often losing their best players to each other – it’s usually foot soldiers rather than generals switching sides.