I spent 9 months working in Ft. McMurray back in the 80's. At that time it was ATL-DEN-YYC-Edmonton Municipal (not YEG)-YMM and took most of a day to get there. There were 2 AC flights and 2 CP flights a day from/to Edmonton Municipal.
The return was a 2 day affair. YMM-Edmonton Municipal, overnight in Edmonton, YEG-SLC-ATL.
I'd love to go back and see how much the town has changed. Summers were great but the winters were another story!!!