How Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames fans are bringing the action outside the arenas

EDMONTON — There’s much at stake for the Oilers in these Stanley Cup playoffs. Just ask their fans.

Thousands of them gather in droves before each game all around Rogers Place. Every side street is filled to the brim. There’s a formal — and free — tailgate party set up across from the arena, boasting live music, a massive screen on which to watch the game and a line to get in snaking around the block hours ahead of the puck drop for last Sunday’s Game 3 of the Oilers’ second-round playoff series against the Calgary Flames.

It’s excitement enough that the Oilers are on a real postseason run; even better when they’re up against the Flames. For 31 years, fans waited for another playoff chapter in the fabled Battle of Alberta rivalry that’s as ubiquitous to the province as cattle farms. But the on-ice intensity of this round might turn out to be no match for the passion it’s fostering among some supporters.

“I told my wife, when Edmonton beats Calgary and wins the Stanley Cup, we have to name our kid Darnell [after Oilers’ defenseman Darnell Nurse],” said one tailgater before the Oilers’ 4-1 win in Game 3. “She already said I can’t have an [Oilers] tattoo, so I’m pushing for the name instead.”

What would he want in a tattoo exactly, given the opportunity?

“Just like a massive Oilers logo and then like some of the players’ faces around it. Nothing crazy,” he laughed. “I want people to know: this team is in our blood. They’re already a part of your family almost.”

That sentiment could also be extended to the greater Oilers’ community.

There’s nothing but orange and blue sweaters in sight on game night, amid a smaller, but healthy swath of red-and-black clad Flames faithful. Strangers pat one another on the back to a sturdy chorus of “Let’s go, Oilers!” kicking every few minutes. And it’s all against a…