from Mark Spector of Sportsnet,

Last week in Philadelphia, with his Calgary Flames about to embark on life after Mark Giordano, Flames head coach Bob Hartley was notified that many voices in the hockey world had officially placed Calgary’s playoff hopes on the gurney right next to their captain.

Of course, Hartley only laughed.

“It’s probably the same people who put us 29th and 30th at the start of the year,” he said. “Deja vu.”

I will admit to being one of those who thought the Flames wouldn’t be able to survive the loss of their captain and best player. Frankly, the argument wasn’t whether or not the Flames would wilt without Giordano, it was how they would wilt. Would the on-ice deficit hurt more than the mental kick in the teeth that losing your best player down the stretch can produce?

It was all up for discussion, but either way the Flames were dead, right?

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