Barn Burner: The Calgary Flames are tuning out all the noise amidst a push for the playoffs

On Tuesday’s episode of Barn Burner, Boomer, Pinder, and Rhett gave some major props to the Calgary Flames following their 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday evening for the team’s resiliency as the NHL trade deadline looms.

The deadline is now just days away as the calendar turns into March and the Flames are right in the middle of it with a couple of key players being pinned as marquee adds for teams gearing up for a run at the Stanley Cup. Now winners of four straight, the Flames aren’t crumbling at the inevitable loss of a couple of their biggest contributors but instead, bearing down and trying to make a playoff run of their own.

Boomer: “You know you’re about a week away from potentially having two huge pieces of your defence taken out of there. They don’t look like a team that is rattled by trade talk or that one of their good friends is going to be leaving town. They’re just playing and they’re playing well.”

And playing well is exactly what they have done over this past stretch of games. This winning streak hasn’t just been against any old hockey teams; In the process, the Flames have taken down the Jets, Bruins, Oilers, and Kings, all securely in a playoff spot.

The main contributor to the most recent jump in play? Pinder touches on the buy in from some of the Flames core veteran players.

‘It’s a tip of the cap to the leadership group… It’s Kadri, Huberdeau, Backlund, Coleman, Weegar and Andersson. Those are your guys that they were here for that 2-7-1 start and they could’ve said “well this is f**ked, I want out.”… You knew there was going to be some drama around who’s contracts were expiring but they haven’t quit, they’ve worked their tails off. They show up and outwork their opponents a lot of nights.’

It has been the veterans carrying a lot of the weight recently, led by Kadri and Huberdeau who have six and five points respectively over the last five games. But it’s not just the players on the ice who are the reason for success according to Rhett, it’s also coming from behind the bench.

“Huska has to be praised… I don’t know what he is doing to make them perform that way but he’s doing something right. They’ve bought into something he’s selling or they’ve bought into being a group which is even better.”

Sitting only five points back of the Predators for the final wild card spot, the Flames have a real shot at making a push for the playoffs this year. The mix of youth and veterans on the roster seems to be complimenting each other well and it is going to be a fun journey to the finish line.

Check out Wednesday’s episode in full here:

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