Toronto’s Auston Matthews has set the bar and I can’t imagine many agents across the league are too upset about it. Matthews signed a deal worth $11.634 million (get it, he wears #34) over five years on Tuesday, which marks the first of this supergroup of high profile restricted free agents to get paid. Calgary’s…
As the Flames come off their break Friday night in Washington, they find themselves on top of the Pacific Division and Western Conference. With 31 games to go, Calgary has eyes on one of their best regular season finishes in team history and a deep playoff run. In no particular order, let’s go through some…
What should Calgary do at the trade deadline? That’s the most thought-provoking discussion surrounding the Flames right now, and it’s one we’re not really used to having. Barring a massive collapse down the stretch, Calgary will enter the 2019 postseason as contenders for the first time in years. While there are myriad opinions on how…
Juuso Valimaki’s imminent return to active duty comes at an interesting time for the Flames. As of this publish date, the trade deadline is exactly five weeks away and multiple reports suggest Calgary is interested in adding a left-shot defender. It’s not overstating it to suggest how Valimaki fares upon his return will determine the…
I’ll ask a question to begin: how confident would you be as a Flames fan if they had to turn to Mike Smith in the playoffs? If your answer is “not very” like mine, you’re probably on the same page in believing Calgary needs to be exploring an upgrade on their second goaltender. While we…
The 2018 calendar year has been full of mixed emotions for Flames fans. On the one hand, the team choked away a playoff spot in the second half of last season. On the other, the start to this season has been one of the most promising in recent memory and chock-full of exciting moments. With…
Big Save Dave is no unreliable nickname. In fact, David Rittich has lived up to his moniker as well as anyone this season and he’s quieted Calgary’s goaltending conversation as a result. As we approach the midway mark of the season, Rittich sits in elite company as one of the NHL’s best and is showing…
It’s totally cliche and absolutely lacking any originality as a concept, but I’m a total nerd for this time of year. As such, in no particular order, here’s our 2018 Christmas Wishlist for the Flames!
I think we all know Flames captain Mark Giordano is having an outstanding season, and some around these parts have started throwing around the words “Norris Trophy”. We’re not even halfway through the year, but those whispers aren’t off base. Not only has Giordano been one of the league’s best defensemen through the first two…
A quarter of the way through the season, the Flames are carrying three rookies as NHL regulars with no signs of that changing. Dillon Dube, Juuso Valimaki, and Rasmus Andersson are all forging identities as first year players with very similar results. We’ve certainly seen growing pains thus far, but all three players have high…
Have you looked at the Pacific Division lately? If not, you might want to take a closer look at the NHL’s worst grouping of teams. If things continue the way they’ve started, this could be the worst showing from any division since the league switched to its current alignment for the 2013-14 season.
Much was expected when the Flames acquired Travis Hamonic from the New York Islanders in the summer of 2017. Considering the price Calgary paid (a first and two seconds), high expectations go with the territory and Hamonic didn’t deliver. The start to this season is a completely different story, though; Hamonic looks like a different…
