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Calgary has a problem, at least believes GM Brad Treliving. The Calgary Flames have a team and organization full of players who want to compete and prove that they can play!
It’s a good problem to have, of course, as Treliving recently spoke to the media about how this team has been, and continues to really surprise him and likely the rest of the hockey world.
“They just keep playing,… Treliving said. “The one thing that’s impressed me is … they just go out and play. They’re not overwhelmed by the situation.
“They’re learning to be everyday guys. They know, OK, tough building (Tuesday) and a hard game. They went back at it (Wednesday). They just go out and play. They’re a resilient group.…
And to think that the Flames management would feel good about how things are going and not have much to worry about right? Well I suppose I could see how this would actually present itself as an even greater challenge. Think about it this way – this team was expected and likely still is expected to falter and sit bottom five in the league come the end of the regular season.
They have a bunch of players who they likely didn’t consider being part of their long term plans or had too far up their depth charts who are now making a name for themselves. Heck, this team is playing quite well at the moment and they have injuries to four key NHLers who the team was expected to rely upon this season.
Other players are emerging, some are stepping up and taking on big roles for the team, while others are scoring and playing some strong team defensive hockey. It’s a thing of beauty, really. “Santa doesn’t come for another month,… joked Treliving. “Hey, there’s guys that are making a real case to be here. We’re day-to-day here, that’s how we’re living here right now.
“They’ve done well.…
“We want to be a playoff team, so we want to eliminate any sort of losing streaks,… said Flames captain. “I think we’ve done a good job of that so far … I think we do a good job of coming into a game and watching it and seeing we have to respond and make an adjustment.…
“The one thing we want to talk about is the evolution of teams,… Treliving said. “Being close and giving it the old try, it’s not good enough anymore. We want to have success. Yes, they’ve done well. but we need to win and we need to have some success.
“That’s what I like about this group. They’re not satisfied with a pretty good game and a 3-2 loss. They were back at work (Wednesday). “It’s a fun group to be around.…
And these are all solid points – but you almost wonder…what now? What is actually in stock for this team? Sure we can all take the safe bet and assume they will begin to regress and slowly move down the standings, but it seems that the team has something to prove and are not interested in the notion that a rebuilding team is expected to suffer for a few years.
As I mentioned a few days ago, I feel really good about this group and I do actually think that if they can keep their cardio at this level for the rest (or a good portion) of the year, they might actually make the freaking playoffs! Who woulda thought.
Anyways, with the above established, the only thing I maintain is that this team should not make any hasty decisions or moves to try and ride this “success…. Keep things simple, continue to develop their players in the way that they are, don’t pressure their youth, maintain a level of competiveness or send players packing, and most importantly, don’t for the love of all that is holy trade draft picks.
Thanks for reading!