They open the new National Hockey League season Wednesday (10 p.m. ET on Sportsnet), two teams last seen brawling off the opening draw in Vancouver, now fighting for separate identities in Calgary.
First, the Calgary Flames.
Are they: At the post for the Connor McDavid Derby? The same over-achieving, hard-grinding outfit coach Bob Hartley produced last season? A three-game, goal-less drought waiting to happen? A roster that includes the 2014-15 Calder Trophy winner in Johnny Gaudreau?
Versus the Vancouver Canucks, a team whose status is every bit as in doubt — at least outside their own dressing room.
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“The status is,” begins hard-nosed Vancouver defenceman Kevin Bieksa, “we have a third of our roster that has changed, and we have new guys coming in at key positions. We still have some of our veteran core guys. I think we’re looking to compete.”
Looking to compete? What exactly does that mean?
Perhaps, Bieksa explains, what he means is that the Canucks are looking to get back into the fight.
“Missing the playoffs last year, it was the first time in a long time (six seasons). It stung,” said Bieksa, listed by coach Willie Desjardins as a game time decision Wednesday. “I don’t think we took the playoffs for granted, but we were used to getting in — and getting in pretty easily. The last month of the season, kind of cruise in. We didn’t have that luxury last year. We see ourselves as a playoff contender this year, for sure.”
“A lot of people don’t have very high expectations for our team,” added Dan Hamhuis. “The word ‘rebuilding’ is being thrown around a lot. That’s got our team pretty motivated, because we don’t believe that for a second.”
Calgary, of course, is at the early stages of a full-on, Edmonton-like rebuild. Nobody in the hockey world has high expectations for the Flames. Not even Flames fans.
The Flames season begins with shoulder surgery in the offing for a young star (Sam Bennett), and a new general manager in Brad Treliving who couldn’t be more realistic about the project at hand.
“The depth that we have as an organization, we’re not there yet,” he said on Tuesday. “We’ve got a deeper (prospect) pool than I thought, (but) we still need to get better. We’re in an accumulation stage. Clearly, we need to add.”
As such, there might be one untouchable on this roster, over the age of 25. His name is Mark Giordano, and he is Calgary’s captain and best player. Guys like Devin Setoguchi, Jiri Hudler, Dennis Wideman, David Jones and Kari Ramo? They are walking draft picks, and the better they play the more likely they morph into some piece of the future at a coming trade deadline.
Sean Monahan is the young forward around whom Treliving will assemble a team, while Gaudreau might be worth the price of admission on some nights. Bennett looks like a real player, while the jury is out on Sven Baertschi, who should have been able to crack this lineup at this stage of things.
But Bob Hartley coaches this team, don’t forget, so they might just ice a fourth line of Brian McGrattan, Brian Bollig and Lance Bouma the odd night — maybe even start them once in a while, like the night Fonzie jumped the shark in Vancouver last year.
“I think we’ve played them three or four times since,” Bieksa said. “Their guys who were on the ice, some are still there, some aren’t… I think, for them it was just fun. For me it was just a good, fun shift. I don’t think there’s any carry over.”
Calgary only has to take one look at its early-season schedule to gauge the importance of Opening Night at the Saddledome. If ever there was a must-win game in Game 1 of 82, this might be it for the lads in red.
After hosting Vancouver, Calgary goes on the road for six straight games, a trip dubbed “The Slaughterhouse Six” by Calgary herald columnist George Johnson. The Flames go up to Edmonton, then to St. Louis, Nashville, Chicago, Columbus and Winnipeg, though only the Oilers game on Thursday marks a home opener for Calgary’s opponent.
After the woeful Oilers, the combined home record of the other five opponents last season was 115-63-28. Meanwhile, the Flames were a .439 road team last year. Here’s betting they’d take that level of road success and run with it, if it were offered up again today.
As for Vancouver, a postseason berth would be a giant success. For now, it’s not unrealistic to talk playoffs when you’re a Canuck.
“By the end of last season we were a couple of changes, and I think a couple of additions away from being a contender again,” Hamhuis said. “And I think we’ve made some good changes, and some very good pick-ups to compliment the guys we have in this room. Inside our room, we have a strong belief.”
