To all the Calgary Flames fans still puzzled and angry that Mark Jankowski is toiling in the minor leagues while the likes of Troy Brouwer, Matt Stajan, Tanner Glass and Freddie Hamilton continue to enjoy their NHL perks: consider the case of Curtis Lazar as a cautionary tale. You know Lazar as the cheerfully inconsistent…
One day very soon, Jaromir Jagr will play his first game as a member of the Calgary Flames. He says he wants to practise a while before suiting up. Perhaps that will be alongside Sam Bennett and Kris Versteeg on the third line. Maybe he’ll get some looks on the first team powerplay. In his…
View image | gettyimages.com The Calgary Flames are a playoff* team. Did you notice the asterisk? The loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night served as a reminder to fans of the overachieving local heroes that they can’t afford to play bad games very often. They’re a playoff team by virtue of their current…
View image | gettyimages.com His successful and headline-grabbing recent stint in Calgary might have taken some people by surprise, but a couple of the first Flames coaches to work directly with Joni Ortio could see signs of this as a possible outcome years ago. Jamie McLennan was director of goaltender development for the Flames in…
View image | gettyimages.com They’re not quite there yet, but the Calgary Flames are heading toward a pivotal point in this confounding season. During a well-publicized rebuilding phase that officially started with the unloading of former captain Jarome Iginla less than two years ago, the Flames are actually in contention for a playoff spot.
View image | gettyimages.com The timing of the announcement couldn’t have been more perfect. If ever there was a time to make a statement as to the absolute certainty of the Calgary Flames’ feeling they have the right man for the job, it’s to extend the head coach of a rebuilding franchise during a six-game…
#457391034 / gettyimages.com There’s never a good time to be injured as an NHLer, but if there was, now would probably be it for Flames winger Mason Raymond. He’s still in the midst of moving into a new Calgary home with wife Megan and two-and-a-half-year-old son Max. After spending much of early part of the…
#457637342 / gettyimages.com The odds-on favourite for the Calder Trophy is the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Jonathan Drouin. Calgary Flames darkhorse Johnny Gaudreau, though, won’t be an underdog for long if he keeps getting on the nightly highlight reel. The way Gaudreau is progressing, it’s just a matter of time before those who omitted him in…
#457228858 / gettyimages.com While it’s true that Johnny Hockey clearly needed to take a seat after five games of less-than-promising performances to start his first NHL season, the press-box benching doesn’t mean his next stop has to be the American Hockey League. You didn’t really think it would be easy making the jump from the…
#483379279 / gettyimages.com It was the 2008 rookie tournament in Camrose when T.J. Brodie first caught my attention. The team’s fourth-round pick that year quickly flashed his puck-handling skills and his smooth skating ability while playing mostly beside big, lumbering blueliner Matt Pelech. He made his share of mistakes, as kids with that kind of…
#489164367 / gettyimages.com No Kevin Hayes for the Calgary Flames? How could this have happened? How did the team get beat out by the New York Rangers on Wednesday for the services of the big right-winger whose standout Boston College linemates are already part of the organization? It seemed like a no-brainer, right? With two-thirds…
When you’re talking about a 5-foot-8, 160-pounder (a measurement that falls somewhere between his what’s listed on the Flames website and what he suggests he is), the word big doesn’t come up very often. For Flames forward Paul Byron, it’s come up a lot lately.
