The Calgary Flames were an inconsistent bunch under general manager Brad Treliving, varying between really impressive years that got them into the playoffs and seasons that weren’t quite as good.

But when Treliving’s group was good, they were among the better teams in the National Hockey League. And in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2022, they showed why many had optimism about that version of the Flames.

The 2022 playoffs were the culmination to a very odd few years for the Flames.

In 2018-19, the first season for new head coach Bill Peters, Flames won 50 games and finished second overall in the regular season. They were ousted in the first round of the playoffs by Colorado. In 2019-20, the team struggled under Peters, and then allegations of past misdeeds in previous coaching stops arose, leading to his resignation and replacement by associate coach Geoff Ward. Then the pandemic happened and the season was paused in March. The Flames lost to Dallas in the “bubble” playoffs, played in Edmonton. The 2020-21 season was played in front of zero fans and saw the Flames struggle and Ward replaced by a returning Darryl Sutter late in the year.

The 2021-22 season was Sutter’s first full campaign behind the Flames’ bench since 2005-06, and the team thrived. The top line of Elias Lindholm, Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk were one of the top trios in the league and the Flames had one of their best regular seasons in franchise history.

They finished as the top seed in the Pacific Division and were matched with the second wild-card team, the Dallas Stars, in the opening round. The series featured a heck of a performance by Stars netminder Jake Oettinger, who held Dallas in the series. Most of the games were pretty close and the teams alternated wins and losses, leading to a deciding seventh game at the Saddledome.

The post-game interviews were punctuated by an injured Sean Monahan waiting for Gaudreau in the Flames’ tunnel and giving Gaudreau a big hug.

The Flames moved on to face the Edmonton Oilers in the first playoff Battle of Alberta since 1990. It didn’t go great for the Flames, who were diminished by a punishing series against Dallas, and ultimately could not contain Connor McDavid. The Oilers beat the Flames in five games, with McDavid’s Game 5 overtime winner being perhaps the final Stanley Cup playoff goal scored in the Saddledome.

The Flames traded Tkachuk to Florida during the 2022 off-season, while Gaudreau left in free agency to sign in Columbus. The Flames struggled the following season, which was followed by a changing of the guard with Sutter and Treliving departing in favour of current head coach Ryan Huska and general manager Craig Conroy in the spring of 2023.