Its like de ja vu all over again for the Calgary Flames.
A quick start turned to a nasty nose dive for the Flames in 10/11. Their losing streak led to the unceremonious ouster of former GM, Darryl Sutter. The Flames started 6-3 out of the gate and looked good in the process. Then, the wheels fell off the zamboni and the team stunk on ice for the next two months. In that stretch, they were an embarrassing 7-15-3.
By the time the calendar had flipped to 2011, the Flames werel a free-falling team in disarray.
The Flames missed the Playoffs last season and had to wrestle with their failures this past Summer.
Calgary are now 0-2 this young season and the blood pressure is rising by the moment in Calgary.
Robyn Regehr knows a thing or two about whats going on right now in his old team's room.
Regehr's close personal friend, Captain Jarome Iginla, and the Flames leadership group held a closed door, players-only meeting on Sunday night after a loss to St. Louis. Simply put, the Flames are not competing shift to shift. Their goaltending and D have been soft. Their scorers are not scoring.
The Flames play in Montreal on Thursday, then travel to Toronto on Saturday night. If they don't turn their act around now, they'll be staring down the barrell of an an 0-4 start, and all H-E-double hockey sticks will be breaking out in Calgary.
Robyn Regehr left Calgary in June and is enjoying his new home in Buffalo.
Talk about a tale of two hockey cities. Buffalo are 2-0 and have blown out Anaheim and Los Angeles, and looked great in the process.
Regehr feels for his former mates.
“I think when you start the season 0-2, its tough. I didn’t watch the games, but, I saw the results, so, I’m not sure where there breakdowns were or anything like that. I’m sure that they are gonna want to get on track as quickly as possible because of what happened last year. We (the Flames) had a poor start to the season and we ended up falling behind (in the Western standings). We never got a chance to come back. We made a good push in the last half of the season, but, you’re really fighting from so far back that you are running out of games”.
Regehr spent ten seasons with the Flames. He knows that the Western Conference is a grind from October through to April. Regehr remembers all too well playing on Flames teams, like the 10/12 squad, that had to play .650-.700 hockey in the second half of the season, just to keep pace with the Western Conference leaders. Last season’s Calgary squad simply ran out of runway at the end of the regular season and their Playoff dreams were doomed all because of sloppy, uninspired, inconsistent play in October and November.
“What I see happening in Calgary right now is that realization that they need to get going and they cannot wait. The time is now”.
When teams lose games early on in the season, as the Sabres had last season, players tend to think “its only two or three losses in a row, we have time to make up ground”. Regehr says that that school of thought, however true it may be, can also lead to bad habits. Especially now that the Eastern Conference is just as competitive, if not more competitive as the Western Conference. With winning teams like the Bruins, Flyers, Caps, Lightning, Rangers, Sabres, and now recently improved teams like the Leafs, Islanders, Hurricanes, Panthers, Jets on the come, there are no “easy games” on the schedule.
“I forgot who it was that coined the phrase… I heard a quote one time that goes back a ways, a coupl of decades at least…”You can’t nail down a Playoff spot in October and November, but, you can definitely lose one”. I believe it. That’s exactly the attitude that you need. You gotta make sure that you are earning as many points as a team that you can. The scratching and clawing, and coming from behind at the end of the season, then having to scoreboard watch, relying on matchups, and hoping for teams to lose to give us a shot can take a lot out of a team”.
I complimented Regehr for his perspective. He told me that he’s already imparting that coaching wisdom with his Buffalo teammates. Regehr is older now. This isn’t his first rodeo. He’s had his heart broken in Calgary, witness last season. He counter-balances the disappointment of having taken the Tampa Lightning to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2004. Though the Flames lost the Cup, he knows and appreciates the commitment and the discipline that is required of each player in the room in order for the team to achieve its collective goal.
Regehr told me that he wants to impart on his Buffalo mates that playing winning hockey is so much more of an enjoyable experience than trying to bail water in the bottom of your boat every night, just to make up for the ground that was lost in the first couple months of the season.
“That’s why when players tyalk about winning being a “process”, you have to approach games and be prepared. You have to be prepared. That process is something that you are so focused on because you have to continually do it, then repeat again everyday. Its not something where “alright guys, hey, we’re down…we’re this many points behind and the next Playoff team is some many points ahead, we know what we have to do…”. No that’s NOT the way it works. it’s the process. You have to make sure that you do it, and that you have the good work habits, the execution, your special teams are good, you’re keeping the puck outta your net, you are mindful of the goals for-goals against differential-- that’s a big part of it. You do all that, and you find yourself winning the majority of your games because you’re not going to go 82-0. But, you’re going to put your self in control of your situation as opposed to having to win every game you play in the second half of the season, just to qualify for the Playoffs”.
Regehr has taken a huge liking to the way that Lindy Ruff and his staff prepare the Sabres for all situations.
“We practice so well, and it gives us the best possible chance to win games. Liundy is so prepared and he is so aware of when to work us hard and when to let us rest and recover. Everything here is preparation in order to execute and succeed. Once that is over with, you start all over agin the next day. I found in the past that its good when the coaches come in and say here’s the schedule, here’s the schedule for the whole month. That way you know whats expected, you know where the breaks in the schedule are and where the rest days are. In my past, there have been stretches where the team isn’t playing well, we’re not getting any rest and then you’re pressing, pressing, pressing… you play with fatigue”.
Regehr agrees with Lindy’s proactive approach, rather than having to play catch up. He likes knowing where the team is expected to be both physically and mentally. He‘s also looking forward to embarking on his first Eastern Conference season, where the travel demands are less of a grind for he and his teammates to have to deal with.
“ So far, we’ve been to Europe.. But we know that is an exception, rather than the rule. It was a good sized road trip but its not the norm. I am very much looking forward to getting into the normal travel routine and schedule. I hear so many of our boys talk about how much easier it is on the body in the East than it is in the West. For sure, I’m so looking forward to the reduced travel and just getting to play real and meaningful games in front of our fans. I really cannot wait for it!”
As for Regehr's passion for the city of Buffalo, he told me that he's finally there.
"People were asking me a couple months back what I thought of Buffalo and I'd tell them that I'm excited and happy. My family love Buffalo. There just wasn't a lot of time because we were so busy with the move and all. But now, there's so much comfort. Its really been a wonderful experience. Look, I was in Calgary a long time. Now, its really starting to feel more comfortable and I'm loving it here".
I told him to wait for Friday night when his team takes the ice for the home opener against Carolina at First Niagara Center.
"We're going to give our great fans a lot to cheer about not only Friday night, but, for the whole season"
After practice, Lindy Ruff commented on Jochen Hecht. He said that Hecht will continue to practice and that no decisions have been made about the upcoming weekend games vs. Carolina and Pittsburgh.
Ruff also spoke about his line combinations and how he feels about Derek Roy's start to the season.
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