During the pre-game ceremonies and player introductions, boo birds targeted at the Oilers flew. At the time, the Battle of Alberta was fierce. Both teams lacked remorse for the other as well as each respective fanbase. If there was a chance to heckle the opposition, it was taken. Kevin Lowe was the first Oiler welcomed onto the ice.

Al Trautwig (host, USA Network) (via): Alright. They booed Wayne Gretzky. Three players tripped upon introduction - that must be a record of some kind. We had a hockey puck from space and the president of the League wearing a sheriff's badge. It could only happen here, in Calgary. John Wayne would've loved it.

Grant Fuhr (goaltender, Edmonton Oilers): A lot of us went down on the same flight. It was fun having a bunch of us down in Calgary, especially at that time because the Battle of Alberta was in full bloom.

Kevin Lowe (defenceman, Edmonton Oilers): I was the first to go for the Oilers. The boos were surprising when they happened but certainly not unexpected. All in good humour, I think.

Paul Coffey (defenceman, Edmonton Oilers): We knew we were going to get booed by the Calgary fans but we didn't know they'd put something there for us to trip over (laughing).

Andy Moog (goaltender, Edmonton Oilers): It was like spotlights on your face and it kind of blinded you. It was hard to measure the first step onto the ice. You were walking off a mat onto the ice and it was hard to measure. We had cowboy hats on, too.

Kevin Lowe: Wearing the hats was a nice twist. Not a lot of guys wore helmets.

Andy Moog: We skated out the end zone and up to the blueline and we weren't received warmly, let's just put it that way. The Oilers weren't received warmly. I don't think we expected anything less.

Kevin Lowe: I noticed they didn't boo quite as bad for Mike Krushelnyski, Andy Moog and Grant Fuhr. I think I got one of the louder boos.

Paul Coffey: We think they probably planned it. That's what you'd expect at least.

Andy Moog: That was certainly the heart of the Battle of Alberta. During those years from 1982-83 all the way through to the early '90s. That was the Battle of Alberta. That's when it raged the fiercest. There was no love lost. Every time you had a chance to stick it to the Flames, you tried to stick it to the Flames and vice versa.

Kevin Lowe: Let's put it this way: It was weird playing with the Islanders on the '84 Canada Cup. But it was even weirder sitting beside a Flame at the All-Star Game. Even going back to the Flames' first year in the League. The Battle pretty much started right away.

Paul Coffey: That's what makes this game beautiful and made it beautiful. When you went into opposing rinks, you got booed. Politeness wasn't an option back then.

Grant Fuhr: That was also the fun part: They hated you for the right reasons.

Andy Moog: I was so over my head. I was so overtaken by the environment. It wasn't just the game. You'd go to lunches and you'd be sitting there having lunch with Glenn Hall, Tony Esposito or Gordie Howe. That was as much of the All-Star Game experience as anything else was. These legends were around and some of us were 23 or 24-year-olds, so you were a little bit gaga over the whole environment and presentation of the All-Star Game.

Grant Fuhr: Yeah, we were all still kids. Everybody was there with open eyes and wanting to play well. When you're with your peers, you want to play well.

Paul Coffey: You have to remember that back then, it wasn't the media deal it is now. As players, you could relax, have fun and meet guys from different teams.

Grant Fuhr: Actually, it was pretty cool. As a kid, you'd grow up watching the guys you'd see there before you were even in the League. To actually be on the same ice playing with and against them for an All-Star Game was pretty cool.

Paul Coffey: My first NHL All-Star Game was in DC, in 1981-82 and I ran into Bill Barber. I kind of ran him over just because of nervous energy. He said, "Hey kid, it's an all-star game," and I said, "Sorry about that." It was physical and that's what made it great.

Andy Moog: At that time, there was still a sense that this was a game. This wasn't an exhibition, this wasn't a performance; it was a game.

Paul Coffey: It was always an East vs. West thing. You wanted to beat them. We represented the West and they had the best in the East and you wanted to win.

Grant Fuhr: There was always a little competition between East and West. The games were competitive. You knew if you weren't good it could be a 9-8 game really quick.

Andy Moog: There were still confrontational situations, there were still puck battles and things of that nature so I sensed it was a hockey game and approached it that way.

Kevin Lowe: The intensity was so much greater than what you see now. You were there to win. That's just how we were all wired. We played hard. No one would go out and try to hurt anybody but guys finished checks and guys drove to the net. Glenn Anderson ran Fuhrsy into the net trying to backcheck. There was lots of pride in which conference was better. The East had won all those Cups and then finally we won a year before.

Grant Fuhr: It wasn't just that they were physical, it's just we played good hockey. Yeah, it was offensive but we played offensive in Edmonton anyway. That was the fun part: It wasn't so much of an exhibition as actually, guys played fairly hard. But at the same time, it was still fun.

Paul Coffey: That's what people pay to see. It's different now, more of a show, which is great but back then you were playing for something.

Andy Moog: That started to drip away as the '80s and '90s came on.