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I feel like it was just yesterday that I was writing about the Calgary Flames and their stretch of success as they sat in a playoff position, winning most of their games, playing solid hockey, and having excitement from just about the entire league.
They were the underdog. They were beating teams which most pundits felt they had no business winning. And the worst part of it all, is said analysts who predicted that their success would run dry, are now sitting there thinking – it was just a matter of time folks, don’t be so surprised.
And I guess that, in any form, it was true. Even the biggest fan was expecting a swing or two of losses to come around as the season heated up. I did find something interesting, however, the other night. I asked the twitter world how they felt about their Flames with respect to the recent losses, and the messages were pretty much united; fans are still rather content with how things are going, and so they should!
Listen, the Calgary Flames may have lost their last eight games, but let’s not lose sight of the big picture. This team is in the second year of their rebuild, and all things considered are made up of a team of arguable miscasts. They do not have a playoff ready team and should all but likely struggle in the West when you compare roster to roster, on paper.
What they do have, however, is a strong foundation that is being built for future years and one hell of a coaching staff. What they are getting out of this group is quite impressive and the way guys like say Johnny Gaudreau are able to step into the NHL at his age, size, and experience level and put up 24pts in 34 games played is something else.
And while the player himself obviously has a lot to do with the points which he’s gathered so far, a certain level of the credit really needs to go to the coaching and training staff who have prepared and guided him so far.
Back to the team game, the Flames continue to trend in the positive, or at least for me. They’ve now lost 11 of their previous 23 games played since November, however despite the fact that their current 10 game record is 2-7-1, seven of their 10 losses were by one goal – this is not a recording.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that while the Flames are actually losing and perhaps showing signs of what most of the NHL world figured they would offer this year, fans and myself alike seem to understand the silver lining. The Flames are properly conditioning, teaching, guiding their youth, they are not getting blown out of the water each game which ultimately ruins the development of players, and their fan-base is both entertained and proud.
What more can you ask for from a team who “should… be fighting for that first overall selection slot in the standings? I say to hell with that discussion, these guys aren’t accepting defeat and they should without a doubt start fighting back.
Sure other teams around them are heating up as the year hits the halfway mark, but what I’ve seen from these guys and this coach leads me to believe that there is a bunch of hockey left from this group.
“You take (Friday) night’s game (a 2-1 loss to Dallas), you take (Saturday’s) game, we must have (allowed only) seven scoring chances in (each) game,… said Hartley. “It’s just that, right now, goals are tough to buy. Our confidence is very thin. (Saturday) night … we’ve talked about our character since the start of the year. It would have been easy to fold the tent … credit to our guys, they battled back. I thought that we played a pretty solid game.…
“This is the same group that played so well,… Hartley offered. “We can still do it again and we will. Talent doesn’t evaporate.…
The Flames will take to the ice against the LA Kings tomorrow night in what should be a solid game for both teams. Calgary looked a little better than they offered in most recent games, and you'd have to think that some puck luck is headed their way.
Thanks for reading!