The Calgary Flames will take to the ice against the Boston Bruins tonight which should be an interseting game for the home team.
Over their last nine games played against an Eastern Conference group, the Flames are 1-8-0 which is somewhat surprising considering they are 5-3-2 over their last ten games against a Western Conference pairing.
The Flames continue to be challenged with respect to pushing for the playoffs and by tomorrow night they could either find themselves sitting 2nd in the Pacific division, or on the outside looking in depending on how things end up tonight and tomorrow.
This is cetainly going to be a race to the finish line for this team and it should be anything but boring. The two players from either side to keep an eye out for tonight will be Johnhy Gaudreau and Patrice Bergeron who have both been hot for their respective teams. Gaudreau currently ranks second in the NHL for first year players and has amassed 42 points in just 55 games played to date.
A win tonight would provide the Flames with their 22nd point over their last 15 games played, or a winning record of 73% - how many teams who were slatted to be "contenders" let alone "bottom feeders" would be extactic about this record?
Well as we've discussed, there's plenty of hockey left and the Flames are not counting a single chicken feather before they've been locked into a playoff spot.
"We are in a really good spot. Everybody loves to play these games," Karri Ramo said. "I don’t think anybody feels the pressure that it would be too much."
As offered, tonight's game is very important for both sides trying to secure their spot in the playoffs as they sit on the edge of being knocked out, but Calgary may have a slight advantage as the Bruins have been struggling a little more than we've previously witnessed around this time of the year.
"It's obviously frustrating," Chris Kelly said. "But at the end of the day, we're the only ones that can correct it and we need to in order to have any chance at the postseason."
With respect to the line-ups, nothing has changed in the pre-game skate and that would indicate that there should be no changes for tonight. Karri Ramo was also given the nod to start against Tuukka Rask tonight and I'm not likely alone when I say that I can't wait for Gaudreau's first shift against Zdeno Chara!
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There are many rumours floating around with respect to the Calgary Flames, and for those who follow me on Twitter I mentioned that they are best served to sit back, let the others duke it out, wait for the dust to settle and take advantage of that poor sucker who thinks a fancy bow-tie will be enough to get them to the dance.
There will certainly be a few teams trying to squeeze a player or two out of the Flames and this will be a very difficult discussion for the managment group as they themselves are trying to improve their chances for the postseason, but they need not lose sight of the big picture; the rebuild.
There are players who are seemingly gaining more interest than others from the Flames and those names are Curtis Glencross, Karri Ramo, Joe Colborne, and Matt Stajan.
In terms of the Flames looking around the league, it has been noted that Brad Pascall (Flames assistant GM) has been scouting today's Marlies vs. Senators AHL game. There has also been discussion that Calgary has shown interest in Sabres' Chris Stewart which is interesting as I feel the player could do well under Hartley.
Another name I have heard is 26 year old Jiri Tlusty who has been struggling to find consistency with the Caroline Hurricanes. The former 1st round draft pick has put up 20pts this year in 47 games with the Canes and could also need a change of scenery.
I'm not overly excited about either player, but the position in which the Flames find themselves could offer a few "hey could you take this guy off our hands?" type deals. Sometimes they work out, other times they bear no fruit.
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