For the past five weeks, the Calgary Flames have woken up every day and been able to say one thing: they were in a playoff spot. After Sunday’s loss to the Dallas Stars, the Flames have slid below the Western Conference cutline and are, for the first time since Oct. 30, on the outside looking in.

Depending on your perspective this can be good or bad, but it’s simply reality right now. We’ll see if the Flames can get themselves back over the cutline in the next little while as they have a home-heavy schedule before Christmas. In the interim: let’s check in with the mailbag!

I’m going to single out three players.

Sam Honzek is so, so smooth. He’s young. He’s big. He’s fast. He doesn’t have a lot of snarl to his game, but he’s so good at situational awareness and positioning that he can just use his speed and size to create chances. He’s starting to pile up points in recent games and it’s no wonder: the kid has some high skill. And he’s barely 20 years old. He’ll be worth keeping an eye on.

Ilya Solovyov is one of the more veteran defenders in the Flames’ system, especially due to the recent injury to Jarrod Tinordi, but he’s been superb. He’s a pretty basic two-way shutdown defender, but he’s so smart with how he uses his physical tools.

William Strömgren was good last year and has continued to be good. He’s smart in all three zones, works hard, battles, and has maintain his consistency for the past 15-18 game after a slow-ish offensive start. If they need a forward, I think Strömgren is next man up.

Cheap plug: go to a Wranglers game! Tickets are inexpensive, the atmosphere is fun and the hockey is good. They’re planning a Winter Wranglerfest theme game on Dec. 22 (the last Sunday before Christmas) and it sounds like it should be a blast. Check it out!

I love Dan Vladar. He’s been in a tough role in Calgary – backing up Jacob Markstrom – and really done well despite his injuries. But man, it feels like next season’s tandem should be Devin Cooley and Dustin Wolf, doesn’t it? And give Vladar a ton of credit: he is doing a great job making a case for himself finding a good NHL landing spot next season. I don’t think it’ll be Calgary, but Vladar should land somewhere good.

Here’s the thing with the Flames: they have three players rotating through the left side of the third pairing, and I don’t think anybody has grabbed hold of that job the way that Brayden Pachal has on the right side. As a result, we’ve seen Ryan Huska give different players runs to see if they can grab hold of it: we’ve seen Tyson Barrie, Jake Bean and Joel Hanley get a few games in a row. So far, nobody’s cemented himself in that gig, so I suspect the rotation will continue for the foreseeable future.

There are a few grey areas in the NHL rulebook, and a big one is what constitutes goaltender interference. The general rule seems to be that if you’re in the blue paint before the shot, it’s goalie interference. If you’re pushed in by a defender, or you’re going into the blue paint for a rebound, it’s incidental and allowed. But there are exceptions, and I feel like the exceptions need to be more clearly articulated within the rules to make it easier for fans and officials alike to understand.

I love this question! I’m interpreting this as “all-time.”

Canada:

United States:

Finland:

Sweden:

(I feel bummed that I couldn’t fit in Mullen, Conroy or Fleury, but it is what it is.)