'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
Family of toddler found dead at small-town Ont. daycare no closer to answers after year of investigation
A year has passed since two-year-old Vienna Irwin was found on the property of a home-based daycare in small-town Ontario, but her family says they are no closer to answers of what happened that day.
Fatal plane crash reported near Squamish, B.C.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has confirmed it is working with local Mounties and the BC Coroners Service after a plane crash near Squamish, B.C. Friday night.
Grayson Murray, two-time PGA Tour winner, dead at 30
Two-time PGA Tour winner Grayson Murray died Saturday morning at age 30, one day after he withdrew from the Charles Schwab Cup Challenge at Colonial.
Humboldt Broncos crash victims and families react to decision to deport truck driver
The family of one of the victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018 says they are 'thankful' for a decision by a Calgary immigration board to deport the driver of the truck involved.
Community mourns victims of fatal boat crash near Kingston, Ont.
The three people killed in last weekend's tragic collision between a speedboat and a fishing boat north of Kingston are being remembered Friday.
'God forgives but we don’t': Loud outburst from stabbing victim’s family during sentencing hearing
An emotional outburst in a London, Ont. courtroom Friday disrupted the sentencing hearing of a woman who pleaded guilty for her part in the death of 29-year-old Mohammed Abdallah.
Chiefs' Harrison Butker has no regrets about expressing his beliefs in speech
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker has no regrets about expressing his beliefs in a recent commencement speech and he said he has received support as well as “a shocking level of hate” from others.
American Airlines drops law firm that said a 9-year-old girl should have seen camera on toilet seat
American Airlines has replaced the law firm that told a judge a nine-year-old girl was negligent in not noticing there was a camera phone taped to the seat in an airplane lavatory.
Three dead after vehicle plunged down a 100-foot embankment in Shediac, N.B.
Three people have died after a vehicle veered off the road in Shediac N.B., Friday morning.