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If there wasn’t enough rivalry between the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks toward the end of the 2013-14 NHL season, their very last game against each surely extended any animosity moving forward.
With a hit from behind by Flames’ Paul Byron on Canucks’ Daniel Sedin, the veteran forward went down instantly and stayed down for what would seem like an hour for many Canuck fans. Though not a malicious hit by any measure, Byron ultimately pushed into the numbers of Sedin and sent him flying face first into the glass.
The hit itself hasn’t received as much media attention as most anticipated, likely due to the fact that neither team are in the playoffs, but mostly because Sedin was not seriously injured and is in stable condition. While the aforementioned should not mean to take anything away from the seriousness of hits such as the one we witnessed last night, thankfully for the Sedins, it didn’t end up worse than it could have.
With respect to the game last night, I have to say I was a little disappointed. It wasn’t really a game which I was accustomed to watching with respect to this year’s Flames team. Not only did the team get beat by a healthy score, but their work ethic for whatever reason just didn’t seem to be on par with most of their season.
You’d think, for the last game of the year against a rival team, certain players would look to be flying out there as they try and make final impressions. Honestly, I didn’t care for too many players last night as most seemed to be chasing the puck and play. That said, Johnny Gaudreau looked alright for his first NHL game of his young career.
He certainly looked much smaller on the ice against regular NHLers than he does watching him play in the college ranks – not sure how mom felt about that! And while he was certainly the smallest looking guy out there, he didn’t shy away from the play as much as I anticipated. There was clearly nervousness in his play, but hey, what better way to get over that hump than to score the teams only goal!?
Ok – so it wasn’t a very pretty goal, but it was a first NHL game just the same and I’m sure Gaudreau and his friends/family were pretty darn ecstatic for it to happen. Outside of his goal, and as mentioned, I felt that Johnny played a safe and conservative game; he didn’t want to make any big mistakes or draw too much attention toward himself.
Spending the summer with the team, likely a good part with the Abbotsford heat, Gaudreau has a lot to learn and work on if he’s going to make a claim for a roster spot next year.
Another full summer to add weight to his 155lbs frame will help, but there’s not much he can do about his height other than working on his core muscles and skating. There are plenty of smaller players in today’s NHL were the league has adapted to a faster skating and finesse style, so don’t expect Johnny to have too much difficulty finding a role with the team, provided his commitment and work ethic is there.
With that, wraps up the season for the Calgary Flames. And what a season it was! Given that most expected the Flames to be dead last in the league standings and beaten up on most nights, they did very well in terms of their ability to outwork their opponents.
If you haven’t been sick of hearing it yet, this will be my last time to bring it up. The Flames were easily the best team this year in terms of one goal games. I’m confident in saying (and too lazy to check) that the Flames lead the league in one goal games this year, which given their roster, is something to smile about moving forward.
Not only was the team able to keep their games consistently close and offer a good on ice product for their fans, but they still managed to finish 27th in the league which will provide them with a 4th overall draft selection, provided they don’t win the lottery. It’s one thing to “tank… in order to select high, but I’m there aren’t too many fans who would trade the first overall pick this year for more losses or blowouts as the Sabres fan base were ever so lucky to experience.
This summer there will be a lot to talk about, as the playoffs wind down and the offseason kicks in. with several contracts needing to be revaluated and draft selections to consider, it should be busy around here and I hope to have as much coverage for you as I can!
Thanks for reading, and thanks for following along with me for the 2013-14 NHL season!