Saddledome to get all decked out for historic Battle of Alberta

The focus tonight will be the action on the ice, as the Calgary Flames take on the Edmonton Oilers in game one of their second-round playoff series, but a ton of work goes on behind the scenes to make sure fans can get their money’s worth at the Saddledome.

It’s the first Battle of Alberta in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 31 years, and staff at the arena have a little extra pep in their step getting everything in place.

“It’s showtime!” says Rick Tulsi with the guest experience team at the Saddledome.

Saddledome Fan Experience Team member Rick Tulsi. (Tom Ross, CityNews Photo)

Tulsi has the unique job of announcing when the doors open before a game, but before we even get to that point he is busy in the stands helping his colleagues carefully place over 20,000 red towels on every seat and in every suite.

A Saddledome worker placing Flames towels on the seats. (Tom Ross, CityNews Photo)

“This arena is a monster. 19,289 (seats), and then we’ve got our suites in here. We’ve got everyone in here which is awesome.”

In all, it took about three hours for all the towels to be distributed, and a few thousand more will be sent out to fans in the Red Lot who will be loudly cheering from just outside the Saddledome.

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Since the Flames have a home-ice advantage, that means the team has to hold on to a total of 90,000 towels in case there are four home games by the end of the series.

It’s truly a team effort in the stands, much like what the Flames hope to put together against the Oilers on the rink below.

In addition to the towels, another worker lines up LED lights along the boards, which will be distributed to fans to make the pre-game festivities even more eye-catching.

But you can’t spend the whole game in your seat, and waving around the red towel will certainly make you hungry and thirsty.

As this all happens, staff in the concession area are getting food prepped and stocking shelves with drinks.

There are rooms with bags of popcorn literally stacked to the ceiling, and boxes full of fan-favourite pocket dawgs sitting on counters.

A popcorn stand at the Saddledome. (Tom Ross, CityNews Photo)

“I don’t even know how our concessions manager, supervisor, directors … could surmise the numbers for this,” said Tulsi. “When have we done a Battle of Alberta before? Where do you get those numbers from, [and] where do you start? It’s like commodities, you’re just guessing.

“Those guys have a difficult job. Their objective is [to] make sure everyone is fed and watered well for this.”

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After the raucous ending to the series against the Dallas Stars, which wrapped up with an overtime winner from Johnny Gaudreau, there’s a whole new level of energy preceding a matchup against the rivals from the north.

“The level of intensity for Dallas was very different. It’s a team we play once in a while, but this is our neighbours, our friends, for some of us our wives, brother, family,” Tulsi said about how there will also be a lot of visiting fans taking in the game too.

The team feels it, the fans feel it, and the staff at the Saddledome are right there with them.

“I don’t know how I’m going to amp up for this, I don’t think my body can handle enough coffee for tonight’s puck drop,” Tulsi added. “How do you prepare for that level of excitement? That level of, wow! This is it, you read about it, you hear about it, now we’re experiencing it.”

A majority of staff at the arena are also much too young to have lived through the last playoff matchup between these two teams, and Tulsi said this will be the moment of a lifetime for so many of them.

There’s also a significant sense of pride knowing they will all have a role to play in making sure the fans can tear down the roof and give the Flames that extra boost from the stands.

“To see so many people, for a couple [of] hours, forget life’s problems and be that happy. It’s, wow. Wow.”

–With files from Tom Ross