The downfall and implosion of both the Canucks and Flames franchises are being blamed on the Edmonton Oilers and their captain Connor McDavid. A single incident can pass for a chuckle, <a href='https://theoilrig.ca/2025/02/01/connor-mcdavids-edmonton-oilers-have-caused-the-downfall-and-implosion-of-the-calgary-flames-and-vancouver-canucks/' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>but when it happens twice</a>, it warrants a deeper investigation. <h3>Calgary and Vancouver collapsed internally following playoff losses to the Oilers</h3> Both of the Edmonton Oilers' biggest Western Canadian rivals, the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks, experienced inner discord and roster upheavals soon after getting beaten in the playoffs by Connor McDavid's Oilers. Coincidence? Not necessarily, as <a href='https://theoilrig.ca/author/81seanl/' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Sean Laycock</a> of 'The Oil Rig' believes they all have a common theme. The Flames' implosion began following their 2022 playoff loss at the hands of Edmonton. Their core, Matthew Tkachuk, Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Lindholm, and a few others, had effectively gone extinct. Tkachuk was traded in a blockbuster, and ever since, a few have been traded or have left in free agency. That migration started soon after <a href='https://www.nhl.com/oilers/player/connor-mcdavid-8478402' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>McDavid</a>'s heroical overtime winner in Game 5 that eliminated Calgary. Now, it's happening in Vancouver, too. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/JOSE97LUIS/status/1530047011591962624'> </a></blockquote></div> The Canucks' inner discord emerged coincidentally after the Oilers beat the Canucks in the second round of the playoffs last season. J.T. Miller has <a href='https://www.hockeylatest.com/nhl-team/vancouver-canucks/jt-miller-responds-to-comments-from-president-jim-rutherford-on-locker-room-conflict-with-elias-pettersson' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>supposed feuds with teammates</a>, and Bo Horvat was traded, to name a few issues. All had been quiet and peaceful, until this season. There have been rumblings of tension between Miller and Elias Pettersson, and then Jim Rutherford publicly discussed the soap opera and, in the end, traded Miller to the Rangers. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/TSNHockey/status/1885481720784257509'> </a></blockquote></div> <a href='https://www.hockeylatest.com/nhl-team/vancouver-canucks/vancouver-canucks-discussing-elias-pettersson-trade-with-an-eastern-conference-team-per-insider' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Today, Pettersson's future is uncertain</a>, Thatcher Demko's dedication is in question, and Brock Boeser can possibly be traded. Even captain Quinn Hughes can possibly not make it through a rebuild. What's the common theme? Both teams collapsed following a playoff loss to the Oilers. For a second time, Edmonton knocked out a rival and indirectly started their demise. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/zjlaing/status/1792764388581212394'> </a></blockquote></div> McDavid and crew aren't merely in search of a Cup, as perhaps they're blazing a path by taking out their biggest opponents in the process.