Articles in Calgary Flames

from Eric Francis of Sportsnet,

What was supposed to be a playoff chase has turned into a funeral march.

A slow, painful procession moving the Calgary Flames closer to Connor Bedard than the top 8.

A 3-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild Saturday was the Flames’ fifth straight loss.

They’ve won one of their last seven at home, prompting a whittled down group of fans who remained for the final two minutes of their latest loss to rain a steady stream of boos down upon the host club.

“I’d boo too,” said Darryl Sutter, before adding an odd qualifier.

“I don’t think they were booing the team.”

Well, pray tell, who were they booing?

“Our top players have got to be better players, that’s for sure,” he said.

continued

Game highlights are below.

from Eric Francis of Sportsnet,

And so, Brad Treliving has his answer.

Another good effort by the Calgary Flames simply isn’t good enough, making it patently clear his team isn’t worthy of costly deadline adds of any sort.

A 2-1 loss to the Maple Leafs Thursday gives the club four losses in a row heading into Friday’s trade deadline, leaving them five back of the last wild card spot.

If the Flames' playoff hopes aren’t officially over, the mood in the dressing room and the city is a reminder it’s pretty damn close.

“Just another gut-wrenching loss,” said Blake Coleman, in hushed, frustrated tones.

“Another game we honestly played pretty well.

“Right now, we’re a really good team that doesn’t know how to win.”

It’s the most accurate summation of the season to date.

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Game highlights are below.

from Eric Francis of Sportsnet,

The coach pretended he hadn’t heard about the tweet.

The player pretended he wasn’t privy to it until the next morning.

We can all pretend none of it matters.

But it does.

Frustration and denials abound at the Saddledome where the team’s unexpected on-ice struggles have given birth to suggestions the team is struggling because it isn’t having any fun.

The insinuation from agent Allan Walsh after the Flames latest loss Thursday is that Darryl Sutter’s negativity “sucks the joy right out of players.”

from Eric Francis of Sportsnet,

The Calgary Flames reconvened from a nine-day break in search of a spark - a reason to believe they have what it takes to finally come together as a group.

How perfect then, that as host of some of the world’s most iconic fights, it was Madison Square Garden where the lads chose to prove they’re ready to battle down the stretch.

In a wildly entertaining game befitting the world’s greatest arena, the Flames showed the type of character that galvanizes teams, steadying them for the challenge ahead.

They fought back from three deficits, bounced up and back from a trio of highlight reel hits, responded immediately with mite and left with a point and an exclamation mark on their season.

“It shows to everybody, and most importantly to us in the dressing room, we’re not going to back down from anybody, and we’re going to stand up when needed, and we’re just going to keep this momentum going.

“We showed a lot of good character out there.

“We showed we love each other, and we care for each other. A lot of guys stepping in, and stepping up – that was the positive for tonight.”

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Watch the game highlights below

from Eric Francis of Sportsnet,

The kid just lived out a dream.

He did it in front of his family and a national TV audience tuned in as part of a Hockey Day in Canada marathon aimed at celebrating the game.

Yet, at the tail end of a wildly entertaining and complete effort by his Flames, Darryl Sutter just couldn’t resist pouring a bucket of water over all of it.

Asked about Jakob Pelletier’s NHL debut, Coach Buzzkill decided to put on a show.

“Jakob Pelletier,” he repeated while putting on his glasses and grabbing the game sheet.

“What number is he?”

He then proceeded to read out all of No. 49’s stats, which included just under seven minutes of ice time, 43 seconds of it on the powerplay, one shot on goal and one hit.

No smile, no acknowledgement of how special it must have been and no cursory congratulation.

“It’s the NHL,” he spat.

“21 years old. Long ways to go.”

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below, watch Sutter discuss Pelletier's game...

from Eric Francis of Sportsnet,

In a seven-second sound bite, Elias Lindholm summed up what observers of the Calgary Flames have been saying for months.

“We played 46 games now and we’re still looking for a really good game,” said Lindholm in a room quieted by a 4-1 beatdown by the Colorado Avalanche Wednesday.

“It’s concerning.”

So much so that coach Darryl Sutter punctuated the game — a game the Flames were never in — with a sobering reality check.

“I think we had a pretty good idea where our team is at — we’re in the middle of the pack, and we’re not in their class,” said the Flames coach, who insisted the three-goal hole his team dug in the first period had nothing to do with effort.

“I think we were ready as we could be — they’re the champions.

“They had 13 guys in the lineup that won the Stanley Cup last year and we had one.

“Big difference.

“We’re still very much in the show-me stage.”

'We're not in their class': Sutter candid about Flames' lopsided loss vs. AvalanchePlay VideoPlayMuteCurrent Time 0:00/Duration 1:53Loaded: 8.65% CaptionsFullscreen

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Watch the game highlights below.

from Eric Francis of Sportsnet,

Sportsnet.ca: If you had a new year’s resolution for the team, what would it be?

Brad Treliving: That’s a good one. You always hope for health. We want health and our team to play to the capabilities they’re capable of, and we’ve seen that the last month.

SN: You went into the season being public about your desire to add help to your top 9 up front, but given the fact you’re scoring at the same clip as last year has your wish list changed?

BT: No I don’t think it has changed.

That’s still an area, if you look at our group and the way it has performed, another forward in that top 9 group is something we could use. Whether that’s internal or external is yet to be seen.

SN: How would you describe the first half Huberdeau has had?

BT: I think there’s been a lot of adjustment for him in a lot of different ways, but I think he’s building.

I don’t care if you are 18, 20 or 30, a big part of this game is confidence and you’re seeing him build his confidence on a daily basis.

He’s changed a lot, especially the way our team plays compared to what he played in the past. His whole world was flipped upside down. I think we’re just seeing him more comfortable as we get going.

The guy is an elite player and we’re starting to see some of those plays getting made. You’re seeing him settle in with linemates – the chemistry between him and Naz is building,

We’ve had challenges with him and our group as we put all those pieces together, but I’ve seen growth there.

more

from Salim Valji of TSN,

‘Unexpected’ might be the perfect word to describe Calgary’s calendar 2022 year. They unexpectedly rose to the top of the NHL standings last season, culminating in a Pacific Division title and playoff series win. They unexpectedly lost both Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk, and unexpectedly replaced the two with Jonathan Huberdeau, Nazem Kadri, and MacKenzie Weegar.

After that off-season, the Flames enter the new year with sky-high expectations. With the calendar flipping soon, here are five bold predictions for what lies ahead for the Calgary Flames franchise.

We’ll get the boldest prediction out of the way early on.

Anything can change with a phone call, but at this moment I don’t think Brad Treliving will be back as the team’s general manager, a post he’s held since 2014. Treliving is in the final season of his contract and has not put pen to paper on a new deal, despite Darryl Sutter inking a two-season extension at the start of the season.

The power dynamic in Calgary is different. Sutter is extremely tight with Murray Edwards, the team’s principal owner, and has far more influence on different areas of the organization than most people can imagine. It’s also fair to ask if Sutter and Treliving have been on the same page this season regarding player usage and integrating young players into the lineup.

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from Eric Francis of Sportsnet,

For a time, it appeared the difference would be a pair of goals the L.A. Kings scored just ten seconds apart to open the third period.

However, in the end it would be a pair of Jonathan Huberdeau passing gaffes that ultimately led to the Flames’ demise Thursday night as they fell 4-3.

After valiantly erasing a two-goal deficit in the third period, the Flames found themselves on the brink of winning an overtime game as Huberdeau scrambled in front of the net with a chance to test Pheonix Copley.

Instead, the gifted passer elected to try a no-look backhand, drop pass for Nazem Kadri that was intercepted.

Moments later, Huberdeau gave up another shot opportunity to make an extra pass across to Mikael Backlund that turned into the game-ending 2-on-1 buried by Adrian Kempe.

“I think you saw it, I’ve got to shoot,” Huberdeau told reporters afterwards.

“It’s always been like that. It sucks. I gotta shoot.

“Obviously, I try to make a pass for an empty net for the other guy, but I have to keep it simple, shoot the puck.”

He’s vowed over and over to shoot the puck more.

He refuses to do so.

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The game highlights are below.

from Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun,

The Razza-ma-Naz volume has been turned down.

Once unable to stop himself, either on ice with excitable antics in the heat of battle or from a barbed quote when a mic or notepad was near, Nazem Kadri returned to Toronto as a Stanley Cup winner Saturday, exhibiting the cool demeanor of a champion. That might also be down to the natural maturation of a 32-year-old NHLer, now a husband and father.

He reached a career pinnacle six months ago, lifting the Cup with Colorado, inviting his many critics as a Leaf playoff liability to smooch his derriere. But that was it for bravado, his day with the trophy was mostly in his hometown of London, a low key stop in T.O., then back to business as a big-ticket free agent with Calgary. There was no jewelled ring finger when he met the media pre-game on Saturday.

“You walk a little bit taller everywhere (not just Scotiabank Arena),” Kadri said before his first-period goal in an overtime loss. “But it’s something I worked very hard for. Nice to get that out of the way. Being a champion is special.”

He had been back to SBA with the Avs, but joked this would be “an expensive night” with so many ticket requests.

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from Eric Francis of Sportsnet,

Darryl Sutter insists he’s seen this act before.

Even if it was 35 years ago.

“Well, that’s one thing I learned a long time ago, when you’re in Chicago all those years: When you come into Toronto you know what goes on,” said Sutter, while smacking his palm on the table.

“I won’t say nothing more.”

The coach’s suggestion was that a few of the six power plays the Flames handed the Leafs in Saturday’s 5-4 overtime loss weren’t necessarily warranted.

When he was reminded of the pattern that saw his team take seven minors a night earlier, he scoffed.

“So then write about it,” said Sutter, offering sage advice to a thankful scribe.

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Below watch Sutter's post game comments and the game highlights

“We had some guys who came for a visit, not to try and win a hockey game,” spat Darryl Sutter, alluding to the catered Columbus confab that preceded a 3-1 loss.

“Very disappointing.”

-Darryl Sutter, head coach of the Calgary Flames after a 3-1 loss in Columbus. Eric Francis of Sportsnet has more.

from Eric Francis of Sportsnet,

“You look at Jonathan, that was an emotional time for him and I think that’s why he had a hard time early,” said Sutter.

“He wasn’t expecting to be traded out of Florida. That was hard for him. Now his game is where you want it to be, but that takes time.

“Matthew made that choice and he was ready for it, so

And while the coach opened camp with a significant potshot directed at Tkachuk, he said for the first time Friday he totally respects the winger’s summertime decision to trigger a trade by not re-upping with the club.

“The storyline there is the CBA,” explained Sutter.

“Matthew went entry-level; bridge; career-year. Just look at the history of the league: entry level; bridge; career year - what happens? Free agency. That’s exactly what happened.

“Good on him.”

There’s more.

“It had nothing to do with Calgary - I think Covid alienated him from his family and the US,” said Sutter.

“There were times last year I felt sorry for Matthew.

“He was a guy who was always at the rink, and I was always at the rink, and he couldn’t do anything, or go anywhere, or go home.

“Good on him for going to Brad (Treliving) about it, quite honest.

“That’s what I think.

“Obviously we lost a top player, but you score 40 goals, get 60 assists and you’re plus-50...

"Good on ya.”

more

via Sportsnet,

Speaking to reporters ahead of Tuesday night's tilt on the road against the red-hot New Jersey Devils, Sutter was asked about the amount of ice time his top-four defencemen have played lately and quickly fired back, "it's too much."

"We’ve got guys, what did we play them last night, 23 to 27 [minutes]? That means those guys are doing everything they can and this depth stuff we talked about in the summer, it’s a bunch of bulls--t," Sutter said.

"There isn’t one guy in training camp that even took a step towards being a sixth or seventh or eighth defenceman and we’re playing them now, so it’s time to ripen the apple a bit for them.”

The reigning Jack Adams Award winner was also asked about forward Jonathan Huberdeau, who has one goal and six points in 11 games so far this season after arriving from the Florida Panthers in a blockbuster trade over the summer for star forward Matthew Tkachuk.

Sutter referred to Huberdeau, who recorded a career-high 115 points last season, as a "work in progress" who needs to improve on "being a good player consistently" but didn’t want to single him out specifically as the Flames are mired in a five-game losing streak.

"There are lots of players on our team that haven’t played to their potential yet if that is the prophecy or fulfillment of their skill set," Sutter said.

from Wes Gilbertson of the Calgary Sun,

For most of the evening, nearly all of it, the Calgary Flames played a heck of a hockey game.

And then, as skidding squads so often do, they found a way to lose. They’ve now dropped five in a row, although they’ve at least claimed a single point in each of the past two.

It was a total of one minute of mess-ups that cost the Flames in Monday’s 4-3 overtime setback to the New York Islanders at UBS Arena — a 59-second span in which they frittered away a two-goal lead, and then Rasmus Andersson’s split-second decision to dump an opponent into the goal-post during the bonus session.

Andersson was sitting in the penalty box when Islanders defenceman Noah Dobson ripped the game-winner on a four-on-three power play.

“We still haven’t played a full 60 (minutes) yet,” groaned Flames alternate captain Mikael Backlund, who tallied twice on Long Island. “It’s frustrating. It’s tough. To play so well in the first, we came out with a lot of jump and energy, and it carried over in the second. And then we made some mistakes that cost us in the third.

“Yeah, maybe that happens when a team isn’t feeling at their best, but we have to turn this around. It starts with one win and then we have to go from there. We have a good opportunity tomorrow (in New Jersey) to bounce back and get that win.”

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Watch the highlights below.

from Eric Francis of Sportsnet,

He dropped the gloves to get his team back into the game, he scored the Calgary Flames' opening goal and he was involved in a pair of defensive lapses that led to their undoing.

No one was better positioned to assess the Flames’ third-period collapse than Nikita Zadorov.

“We’re not a young group of players,” said the hulking defenceman following his club’s second consecutive third-period letdown on Tuesday.

“We’re definitely one of the oldest and experienced teams in the league, and it’s definitely unacceptable for us. It can happen to young teams, but it cannot happen to us. It’s definitely on all of us. We made individual mental mistakes in crucial minutes and it cost us the game.”

It’s one thing to blow a one-goal lead in the final 10 minutes against Connor McDavid, like his team did Saturday.

It’s quite another to do it against a Seattle club that trailed 4-2 with 11 minutes left, only to surrender three goals in a five-minute spree that gave the Kraken their franchise’s first winning record.

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Below are the game highlights.

via the Calgary Flames,

Flames General Manager Brad Treliving announced today a multi-year contract extension for Head Coach Darryl Sutter.

The reigning Jack Adams Award winner has a record of 65-36-11 since rejoining the Flames during the 2020-21 season. Sutter, a two-time Stanley Cup champion, has the 11th most wins as a head coach (699) in NHL history and sits just one win away from 700. At 1397 games coached, also the 11th most in NHL history, Sutter will join Hockey Hall of Famer Pat Quinn (1400 games coached) for the tenth most early in the 2022-23 regular season.

Sutter has led teams to the Stanley Cup Playoffs 15 times over his career, posting a record of 94-88 which is the sixth most Stanley Cup Playoff wins in NHL history, most recently joining Quinn at 94 wins during the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Entering his sixth season behind the bench in Calgary, Sutter has a career record of 699-503-101-94 since his start as a head coach during the 1992-93 season with the Chicago Blackhawks. Sutter's career record as the Flames head coach sits at 172-109-15-26, the second most wins in franchise history behind Bob Johnson (1982-83 - 1986-87, 193 wins).

via the Calgary Flames,

The Calgary Flames announced today that they have signed defenceman MacKenzie Weegar to an eight-year contract extension worth an AAV of $6,250,000.

Weegar, a native of Ottawa, Ontario has spent six seasons with the Florida Panthers where he scored 27 goals and 94 assists for 121 points along with 259 penalty minutes in 306 career games. Last season, Weegar was 26th in NHL defencemen scoring with eight goals and 36 assists for 44 points in 80 games. The 2013 Memorial Cup Champion was originally drafted by the Florida Panthers in the 2013 NHL Draft.