Articles in Calgary Flames

added 7pm,

I say an in-person hearing is coming.

Below, watch his number going to the rafters.

from Eric Francis of Sportsnet,

In a rough and tumble game that featured plenty of big blasts and bad blood, Pelletier was hit awkwardly along the boards by one of the league’s biggest bruisers, Jacob Trouba.

Showing immediate signs of distress, he slowly got to his feet and as he straddled the boards to climb into the bench he needed help from teammates.

After several minutes of rotating his left arm in obvious discomfort, he used the first TV timeout to skate onto the ice for a brief test.

It was a fail, leading to a hasty departure through the Zamboni exit.

He did not return, prompting the team to confirm in the second period he’d suffered an upper body injury.

Coach Ryan Huska said after the game he did not have an update on his condition, but it’s natural to fear the worst.

“It’s brutal, we all love the kid,” said Rasmus Andersson, covered in ice packs in the middle of a downtrodden dressing room following a 2-0 loss to the Rangers.

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Watch the hit below.

from Eric Francis of Sportsnet,

Not that Craig Conroy needed to justify anything about the significant haul he’d just procured from Vancouver, but when asked about the curious timing of it all, the Flames GM was direct.

“What I was looking for in return, I got it,” said Conroy of the all-star week trade Wednesday that saw him send Elias Lindholm to Vancouver for a first-round pick, a conditional fourth-rounder, Andrei Kuzmenko and prospects Hunter Brzustewicz and Joni Jurmo.

“I was looking to get younger, and picks, and a roster player — they checked all the boxes, and it was the best deal moving forward.

“I didn’t have a timeline set, I thought it would be closer to the deadline, but about four days ago Vancouver got aggressive, so I circled back with other teams and told them I was getting pushed and needed a decision.

“I’m thinking it’s a fair deal, a good hockey trade for both teams.”

Unlike his summertime Yegor Sharangovich swap for Tyler Toffoli that was erroneously panned by many, this one is a massive win for the first year GM and his organization.

And the deal could get even better, as the fourth-rounder turns into a third-rounder if the Canucks make it to the conference final.

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from Kent Wilson at the Calgary Sun,

This is the emotional paradox facing both the team’s decision-makers and the fans as Calgary’s contention aspirations erode. The spectre of being bad on purpose only to be trapped in the basement indefinitely naturally makes the Flames’ faithful withdraw in revulsion.

Staring pensively at that sort of abyss, one can only think “Win now, win now, we should always be trying to win now.”

Unfortunately, the debts of the Brad Treliving regime are becoming increasingly due. The cost of trying to compete in the short term will continue to climb while the possibility of contending will recede further and further into the future.

As things stand, Calgary ranks somewhere between 19th and 24th in the league by almost any metric you care to name — points, goal differential, points percentage, expected goals ratio, etc. Five other teams stand between them and a Western Conference wild-card spot.

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from Eric Francis of Sportsnet,

It’s starting to get awfully hard to believe the Calgary Flames are capable of staying in the playoff race much longer.

If they’re looking to prove otherwise, they sure have a funny way of showing it.

Turning a 3-1 lead into a 4-3 faceplant against one of their closest playoff rivals Tuesday, the Flames are once again mired in a three-game losing skid at a crucial juncture in their season.

“We’re in a stretch now where we have to stop the bleeding at home here,” said coach Ryan Huska.

“We’ve dropped three in a row at home.

“So, that’s not something that’s okay.

“We have two more games here at home before the (all-star) break and we have to make sure they’re the most important games.”

Sometimes it’s how you lose that is the most troubling.

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Below watch Flames/Blues highlights.

from Mark Spector of Sportsnet,

It is the longest winning streak ever authored by a Canadian-based NHL team, and four shy of the NHL record of 17 set by the 1992-93 Penguins.

“It's very cool,” said Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner, who is playing by far the steadiest hockey of his short NHL career. “It's a little bit surprising that it kind of took this long. I mean, there's been so many great Canadian teams that have played.”...

Is this it? Has the final question been answered here, after all these years?

“I guess time will tell,” mused Hyman. “Every year you learn something. You mature. We've had a lot of guys who are on those teams … and when you lose in the playoffs to this Stanley Cup champions two years in a row, you learn from that.”

more on Edmonton's 3-1 win over Calgary...

Below find Eric Francis of Sportsnet on the Flames and the game highlights.

from Julian McKenzie of The Athletic,

There was reason to believe that a new season along with coaching changes would bring about a much different Huberdeau, especially since the winger was leaned upon heavily for his input regarding that coaching search. Not only have we not seen a new Huberdeau, statistically speaking, things couldn’t be worse for him.

It’s one thing for him not to be on the team’s top line or power-play unit. But Huberdeau simply hasn’t played like someone worthy of being in either of those spots. Huberdeau is in the midst of a career-long, 12-game pointless drought and hasn’t recorded a point in December. It’s the latest setback in a season where Huberdeau was benched for an entire period against the Nashville Predators, only for the team to come back and win without him. Per Hockey Reference, Huberdeau is now on pace for a career-worst season with nine goals and 34 points.

“I try to forget,” Huberdeau said. “I can go 60 games without a point at this point. You want to get some points. But I’ve stopped thinking about it. Because if not, it’s going to make me frustrated.”

What can’t be forgotten is that 114 games into his Flames tenure, and now in the first year of an eight-year, $84 million contract, Huberdeau has yet to find a permanent home on a productive line....

“When someone’s in a slump, the only way out of it is to dig in and work harder,” Huska said. “It’s easy for a coach to say it. The player is like ‘Oh, I got to make plays. I squeeze my stick tighter and it gets harder and harder. But at the end of the day, you just have to grind. You have to work your way through it. And you have to trust that you’re a good player and that you can make those plays.”

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from Eric Francis of Sportsnet,

Even Leafs fans could feel the Calgary Flames’ latest loss, as it included an early departure from Chris Tanev.

Yes, the same Tanev brother the Leafs hope to acquire if the Flames opt to swap out its UFAs after Christmas.

Obviously he’d have to be healthy if a deal is to be made.

At this point that’s very much in question, as the 33-year-old defenceman left Monday’s 6-5 loss in Colorado after a mere 15 seconds, following a Ross Colton hit that sent Tanev face-first into the glass.

He got to his feet by himself and appeared dazed as he skated slowly to the bench, hunched over and in obvious discomfort as trainers walked him immediately down the tunnel to the dressing room....

Aside from Tanev’s injury, the only thing that stung more for the Flames than their 30 shot blocks was leaving Denver without a point.

It was, quite simply, Calgary's grittiest effort of the season.

Playing in one of the toughest NHL buildings against a juggernaut to kick off three hellish road tests in four nights, the Flames entered the third period with a two-goal lead that appeared to have them destined for a season-turning upset.

Instead, it ended with a stomach-turning collapse.

read on

Below are the game highlights.

from Eric Francis of Sportsnet,

Brad Treliving isn’t interested in talking publicly about his former club, or the Friday night Calgary Flames matchup in Toronto that has his fingerprints all over it.

Although as savvy with soundbites as anyone in the National Hockey League, the personable executive would rather lay low despite the obvious spotlight he’ll be under this week.

“The teams and players are the story,” said the Flames-turned-Maple Leafs architect.

Fact is, as a Canadian general manager, you’re always the story.

Right now, he’s double-shifting, taking considerable heat from two fanbases.

continued

Watch below.

update 6:50 pm,

Calgary vs. Edmonton outdoors at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.

Puck drops just after 7pm ET and is on TBS and stream on MAX. In Canada watch on Sportsnet and TVA Sports.

Feel free to discuss the game.

from Adam Proteau of The Hockey News,

The Calgary Flames fell to the St. Louis Blues by a 3-0 score at home Thursday, dropping their record this season to an ugly 2-5-1 mark. This was supposed to be their bounce-back year after a disastrous 2022-23 season – featuring a new coach in Ryan Huska, a new GM in Craig Conroy and a new-look lineup, but they’ve now lost four games in a row and have sunk to sixth place in the rather weak Pacific Division. After their loss to the Blues, Huska said his team deserved the boos they received from Flames fans, and defenseman Nikita Zadorov apologized to fans, saying the team “played like s***."

The Flames’ six defeats have come relatively easily for their opponents. Five of their losses have been by at least two goals, while all of their past four losses have come in regulation time, and they’ve been outscored 15-4 in those four games. This speaks to the all-around lack of competitiveness by Calgary, and it is a worrisome sign of what’s to come. It is still early enough for them to turn their season around, but let’s keep in mind they’ve now played approximately 10 percent of their season, and that’s a significant amount of time.

The Flames will be in the spotlight Sunday at the outdoor Heritage Classic. Their opponents and arch-rivals in Edmonton are similarly desperate after a terrible start to the season, and a loss to the Oilers would put up more red flags (and not good, Flames red flags) than Calgary has already raised this year. There are no excuses for the roster anymore. With a new management team and a tweaked lineup, the Flames will be exposed, one way or another, for the team they really are. And if they’re simply not a good team, rumored extensions for star forward Elias Lindholm and defenseman Noah Hanifin will be seen as rewarding mediocrity – or worse.

continue for these topics...

the Kings are off to an amazing start, and the Ducks are using a popular NBA rest tactic on their young star

from Eric Francis of Sportsnet,

“I thought (will) was long gone before that point of time,” said the Flames coach, bringing the thunder.

“It's nothing to do with being broken, we just sucked tonight.

“That's it.

“They're not broken, they’ve just got to get going.”

What concerned Huska the most was the work ethic that had a good chunk of Saddledome patrons streaming out of the exits early, feeling cheated by the effort.

But not before sharing their thoughts with hearty boos.

“We didn't work tonight, period,” said Huska.

“As to why there was a lack of work ethic, I have to spend a little time figuring that one out.

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Below find the highlights.

from Mark Spector of Sportsnet,

So many of the things the Edmonton Oilers wanted to see came to fruition Tuesday night in St. Paul. But in the end, it was the same old thing for these same old Oilers, who managed to score four goals on the road.

The problem was, so poor was Edmonton’s defensive game that they needed four more to win, in a disturbing 7-4 loss to the Minnesota Wild.

Soft, derelict defensively, and manhandled in front of their own goal, the Oilers entered the third period with a 3-2 lead — then folded up like a cardboard box in a rain storm. They resembled a group that does not have the first clue how to defend, a horrendous display by a team that entered the season with a mantra of “Cup or bust.”

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Eric Francis also of Sportsnet on the 3-1 Calgary home loss to the Rangers,

"The main thing is we’re just not working as a unit. We have too many individuals playing as themselves. We have to figure out if we wanna play as a team or play as our own guy.

"We’re only six games into the season and we’re trying to figure out who wants to be here, who wants to play for who."

-Nikita Zadorov, defenseman for the Calgary Flames. TSN has more.

Watch the hit here.