Just as the club hit the ice for warm-up at PPG Paints Arena in scenic Pittsburgh on Saturday, the Calgary Flames announced that forward Blake Coleman is out day-to-day with an upper body injury.

The 34-year-old Coleman was injured during Thursday’s game between the Flames and the Boston Bruins. Late in the first period, he was involved in a bit of a skirmish with Bruins defender Mason Lohrei. It wasn’t a full-on fight, but more of what’s known as a “taffy-pull,” with the two players locking up wrestling-style, then tumbling to the ice.

Coleman seemed to take the worst of it. After serving his penalty, he played one shift early in the second period, then went to the locker room area for a bit. He came back for six more shifts – four in the second, two in the third – before packing it in for the game.

It goes without saying, but we’ll say it anyway: Coleman is a really important piece for the Flames. In addition to being part of the team’s leadership group, he’s one of their most reliable and consistent forwards who’s capable of playing in every game situation. He’s been joined at the hip practically with Mikael Backlund since joining the Flames in 2022, but they’ve formed two-thirds of a really effective shutdown line, joined by basically whoever the coaching staff thinks can be effective on their flank. Most recently that’s been Matt Coronato.

Because of his excellence in a really tough, physical role, and his history as a two-time Stanley Cup winner, Coleman’s been the subject of many trade rumours this season. And it’s easy to understand why: Coleman’s really good at hockey and understands what he needs to do to be effective (and to help his team win). He’s a strong role player for the Flames. He’d probably be a strong role player on other teams, too.

In 44 games with the Flames this season, Coleman has 13 goals, 21 points and a plus-10 plus/minus rating. His 13 goals leads the team.

Coleman joined Sam Honzek, Zayne Parekh, Jake Bean, Martin Pospisil and John Beecher on the sidelines for the Flames. Coleman and Parekh are considered day-to-day by the club.

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