ANAHEIM — Karri Ramo starts in net, the coach expects Michael Ferland to play, but Bob Hartley did not say anything specific about winger Jiri Hudler’s status for Game 2.
The Calgary Flames gathered at the scene of the crime Friday for an optional skate, and a thorough media dissection of everything that went wrong in Thursday’s 6-1 spanking by the Anaheim Ducks.
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“First, we had a meeting,” Hartley began, “but in the playoffs I have the players give us their input. What they saw, what needs to be done. Then we have a team video. Then we finished off watching Brandon Bollig as a seven-year-old actor. The boys had a few chuckles at this. It’s all about relaxing.”
The Calgary Flames are not a team that is prone to fragility. That much we know. Still, a titanic dismantling like the one they took on Thursday is going to sting. So, we give you the World According to Bob, a look inside the Flames on Friday:
• On benching Johnny Gaudreau for the third period to protect him in a lost cause: “He was not OK with this,” Hartley said. “Johnny wants to be on the ice … but my job is to do what’s best for the organization. What was best last night was to keep him on the bench. There was no sense exposing him out there. But, he was not happy.”
• On injuries: “All of our injuries are day-to-day. We expect all of our players to be in the lineup,” Hartley said, dismissing any prognoses of concussion issues for Ferland. “There’s nothing wrong with his head. I expect Michael Ferland to play.”
• On faith in his Flames: “I don’t even have a doubt on my team. We’ve faced adversity many times. We lost eight games in a row, we rolled back our sleeves. We lost our captain? We kept going. With this team there’s no quit.”
• On Hiller being pulled in two straight starts: “Against the Canucks, I pulled him in order to give a spark to our team. (Thursday) night I felt he was not at his best. We have to be honest. Karri Ramo will start Game 2. Rams will be our starting goalie.”
• On the perception that his Flames just can’t compete physically with the big, strong Ducks: “If we would have listened to everyone’s perception from the start of this year, we wouldn’t have been an NHL hockey team. I don’t know in which league we would have played, but we wouldn’t have competed in the NHL. If we’re too small, well, as much as we can stretch Johnny Gaudreau until Sunday night he’s not going to be 6-1. He is who he is. We’re going to show up (for Game 2), same players, same size, same weight.”
