Bill Peters is Calgary’s new head coach, which puts to bed one major offseason question. However, if the Flames are hoping a coaching change is the magic elixir to cure all that ailed them last season, they’re almost certainly fooling themselves. Calgary has a lot to address this summer and, with Peters in place, general…
The Flames cleared out their lockers and went in separate directions more than a week ago, but those of us on the outside are still left with numerous questions about this team’s future. There’s no doubt the fate of Glen Gulutzan’s coaching staff is the number one off-season story to watch, but it’s not the…
With so much negativity surrounding the Flames currently, here’s a positive for you: this team’s top pairing is having another stellar season. After going through our report card exercise at forward earlier this month, our look at the blueline is a little more stark. Calgary’s top pairing has been very good, but the drop off…
Why are the Flames missing the playoffs this season? It’s a question seemingly everyone has an opinion on, and most of those thoughts are probably accurate in some form or another. In putting together my top five reasons, two stand out from the rest: their inability to win at home and a painstakingly inept powerplay….
When Matt Stajan plays in his 1,000th NHL game on Wednesday night, he’ll have done so mostly as a member of the Flames. Wednesday will be Stajan’s 555th game with Calgary and I’m genuinely thrilled he gets to celebrate such a significant milestone with the organization he’s become synonymous with. Regardless of his contract, usage,…
Here’s a newsflash: the Flames are being led by their top two forward lines this season. While you peel yourself off the wall from that shocker, I’ll set up the premise of this article. Calgary’s top two lines have carried a lot of the weight this year and that becomes even more apparent when you…
Neither Nick Shore nor Chris Stewart were high impact additions for the Flames at the trade deadline, which isn’t breaking news. In specific roles, though, I think both of Calgary’s new forwards have a chance to be effective, providing their usage is correct. Evidence suggests there are specific, and different, ways to use Stewart and…
Michael Frolik’s third season with the Flames looks like it’ll end up being his least productive. Part of that is due to injury but, with eight goals and 19 points in 48 games, his counting numbers are down regardless. That doesn’t mean Frolik is having a poor season, though. In fact, there is plenty to…
With the trade deadline rapidly approaching, Flames general manager Brad Treliving has made it no secret he’d like to add to his forward group, if possible. Assuming Calgary is looking to supplement without removing anything from their current roster, the conversation becomes one about organizational assets. The problem is, the Flames have depleted those resources…
While Mikael Backlund’s potential extension seems to be dominating most of the contract conversation right now, there’s another pending deal that should be registering just as important. Matthew Tkachuk is eligible to sign his second NHL contract on July 1 and, for numerous reasons, there’s no reason for things to drag on much longer than…
Mikael Backlund has some competition for the claim of Calgary’s best value contract. After being bestowed the honour the last two years, Backlund’s three-peat is in danger thanks to the emergence of a new contender this season. I won’t lie, narrowing this to a top three was more difficult this year than in the past,…
More than halfway through this season, Brett Kulak looks like an NHLer. He leads a group of four Flames players who all started the season having never been NHL regulars, yet are now knocking on the door to full-time work. It’s a credit to Calgary’s organizational depth and, if things continue in a similar manner,…
