CALGARY – Could the Calgary Flames be Canada’s team this spring?
Nope.
A consensus favourite would be impossible given the passionate allegiances in every corner of the country.
Canada’s best hope?
Different debate entirely, as three teams enter the playoffs with a shot at ending Canada’s 26-year Stanley Cup drought.
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The early money would have been on the Toronto Maple Leafs given their torrid start and bevy of top young talent.
However, defensive woes and a late-season slide punctuated by their matchup with a beastly Boston bunch have the odds stacked against the Buds.
The Winnipeg Jets seemed best equipped to battle through the brutality of the post-season given their bulkiness and impressive showing last spring.
Alas, they too limped across the finish line and drew the hottest team in hockey, leaving them down 1-0 to St. Louis already.
Then there are the Flames, who shocked the hockey world by finishing second overall thanks to newfound depth, consistency and a stable of scoring stars.
But as the game, its officiating and the stakes change, is this inexperienced crew capable of duplicating what the 1993 Montreal Canadiens did?
As a reminder, those Habs hoisted the cup thanks largely to the stellar netminding of Hall of Famer Patrick Roy.
Despite the fact Mike Smith has been red-hot the last six weeks, goaltending is (once again) the number one concern in Calgary this spring. (See Brian Elliott 2017).
After outplaying David Rittich the second half of the season Smith will undoubtedly be named the Game 1 starter Thursday. His world-class stick-handling abilities and playoff experience (he carried Phoenix to the conference final in 2012) give him the edge.
Yet, the move won’t be popular in Calgary where fans can’t seem to forget the 37-year-old’s early-season penchant for giving up bad goals.
They forget how dominant he was to start his career in Calgary last season when he was named an all-star.
Regardless of how Smith plays, the goaltending situation will undoubtedly be the focal point of the Flames’ playoff fate.
Few believe Smith or Rittich are capable of outduelling some the league’s best netminders on the way to a championship.
Yet, they’ve paced the Flames thus far.
The Flames have been able to get by with average goaltending due to a deep blue line spearheaded by Norris Trophy frontrunner Mark Giordano and a stellar duo of Travis Hamonic and Noah Hanifin.
The league’s second-most potent offence has also given the club a chance to come back from endless third-period deficits, led by career-years from Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm.
They’ve cooled off the last few months, but when on their game few trios are better.
But are they built for the playoffs?
When the physicality and intensity ratchets up, can Gaudreau be quieted as he was during the Ducks’ four-game sweep of the Flames two years back?
The referees will have a lot to say about that.
The Flames’ speed and skill could be compromised if the standard of officiating drops as it generally does in the playoffs, when games aren’t called as tightly.
“I would like it to stay the same,” said coach Bill Peters of the officiating standards discussed with the league Tuesday via conference call.
“[Colorado] is 31st in penalties – they’ve taken the most minors in the league so, I don’t want the standards to change because of that. I believe it will probably be the most penalized playoffs we’ve seen in awhile — I don’t doubt that.”
The diminutive Gaudreau, who is targeted by most teams he plays, has obvious thoughts on it.
“Personally I hope so, on my behalf,” said the Flames’ 99-point man.
“I get a lot of sticks and slashes and a lot of crosschecks. But its playoffs and you always hear about how things get shut down a little bit. We’ll see.”
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One of the big motivators for the club has revolved around the urgency of getting Giordano a Cup. With only eight games of playoff experience under his belt, the captain has implored teammates not to take opportunities like these for granted.
Something special is certainly happening in Calgary this season and the fact that every player has played a significant role in the club’s turnaround has a lot to do with it.
Derek Ryan’s fourth line has led all trios in scoring the last month and Mikael Backlund’s 3M Line with Matthew Tkachuk and Michael Frolik is as dangerous a shutdown line as the league has.
Tkachuk’s reputation as a big-game performer will be put to the test early as he’s tasked with going up against Nathan MacKinnon’s line starting Thursday at the Saddledome where the club could have home-ice advantage through to the finals.
The economically and politically-challenged city is certainly starved for something to cheer for, setting the stage for a raucous Saddledome and Red Mile.
Experience could be a factor as eight Flames regulars will play in their very first Stanley Cup playoff game Thursday.
By comparison, every member of the Avalanche has played in the post-season.
Of the 254 playoff games on the Flames resume, 100 belong to James Neal and 42 to the club’s only Stanley Cup winner, Frolik.
Neal is looking to redeem himself after a horrible season with vows to step up his physical play and intensity on the club’s third line alongside Mark Jankowski and noted playoff beast Sam Bennett.
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Frolik says his club reminds him a lot of the Blackhawks club he won the Cup with six years ago with core pieces like Gaudreau, Monahan and Giordano playing the role of young Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith.
Are they capable of maintaining their regular season brilliance through the playoffs?
They’ll have to do so facing the league’s hottest goalie down the stretch, Philipp Grubauer, who paced the Avs to an 8-1-2 record to sneak into the playoffs.
The belief is the Flames depth, consistency, hunger and star power should overcome Colorado.
But how might they fare against Vegas or San Jose in Round 2?
Conventional wisdom suggests you need to learn to walk before you can run through the playoffs, which is why Winnipeg’s appearance in the conference final last year appeared to set them up well this time around.
Maybe not.
Perhaps sprinting onto the playoff scene is possible – something Calgarians, er, Canadians, are about to find out.
