'Bet's on': Eby and Smith make playful wager ahead of Canucks-Oilers playoff matchup
The premiers of British Columbia and Alberta are joining in on the fun as hockey fans gear up for Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith challenged David Eby to a bet Friday night after the Vancouver Canucks clinched their first round series over the Nashville Predators, securing a matchup with the Edmonton Oilers, who took their series on Wednesday.
In a social media post, she proposed the loser of the all-Canadian Round 2 series must deliver a statement in their provincial legislature written by the winner while wearing the opponent’s jersey.
In a response, Eby accepted the wager, and took a stab at the other Albertan team in the process.
“In this vast democracy called Canada, we must often set aside our differences to come together,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “But over the coming weeks, British Columbians and Edmontonians will have to set aside what we have in common (hating the Calgary Flames) for hockey glory.”
There is no official word on when what is sure to be an exciting series kicks off, but analysts are predicting Game 1 to happen on Tuesday, because Pearl Jam is performing at Rogers Arena on Monday.
As the Pacific Division champions, the Canucks have home ice advantage, meaning the first two games of the series will be in Vancouver.
The Oilers and the Canucks faced off four times during the regular season, and Vancouver won every game, including the 8-1 upset of a season opener in October. Edmonton ended up finishing second to the Canucks in the division.
The Canucks eliminated the Predators in Game 6 of the first series, while the Oilers finished off the Los Angeles Kings in five games.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Looking over our shoulders': A killing looms large in a little B.C. town
Something shifted in the pretty little village of Lumby, B.C., after Tatjana Stefanski vanished. It used to be the sort of place where parents let their kids roam free or play in the local creek, but everything has changed.
Toronto man falls off his chair after seeing $70M Lotto Max win in his bank account
A Toronto man who won $70 million in a recent Lotto Max draw literally fell off his chair when he saw the funds in his bank account.
Montreal-area high school students protest 'sexist' dress code
Students at Curé-Antoine-Labelle High School near Montreal are protesting after they say their school's administration started pushing what they call a 'sexist' dress code.
Officer who arrested Scottie Scheffler is being disciplined for not having bodycam activated
The Kentucky police officer who arrested top-ranked golfer Scottie Scheffler outside the PGA Championship is receiving 'corrective action' for failing to have his body-worn camera activated.
'It's over': Minister says B.C.'s decision on Surrey police transition upheld in court
The B.C. Supreme Court has ruled in the provincial government's favour on the City of Surrey's legal challenge to its ongoing transition to a municipal police force, according to B.C. Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth.
'I won't stop,' Celine Dion says in trailer for upcoming doc about her health woes
Celine Dion's fans are getting a first glimpse of the superstar's struggle with a rare neurological disorder in an emotional trailer for an upcoming documentary about her career and life.
Air travel is expensive. WestJet wants the government to do more to change that
WestJet is asking the federal government to put measures in place to lower ticket costs for travellers, but questions remain on who would foot the bill.
Hundreds have applied for this 'adventurer' job in Banff National Park
Coined as Banff's 'ultimate summer job,' the Moraine Lake Bus Company says hundreds of people from across the world have applied for its adventurer position.
Ottawa police investigating death of a gosling in Kanata
Ottawa police are investigating after someone allegedly stomped on a gosling in Kanata. Police say it appears that Canada geese laid eggs in the area, 'and on May 21, a suspect stomped on one of the hatched babies.'