After a late-season collapse cost the Calgary Flames a chance to compete for a playoff spot, general manager Brad Treliving made some major changes to his team, both on and off the ice. A new coaching staff. A huge trade. Some big free agent signings.
Now, at least on paper, the Flames appear to be deeper than they’ve been in more than a decade and anything less than a return to the Stanley Cup playoffs would be a major disappointment. With that said, finishing in the top three in what should be an ultra-competitive Pacific Division or beating out some tough Central Division teams for a wild card spot won’t be easy.
While getting off to a good start will be important for the Flames, ultimately, their battle for a post-season birth could be decided in the final five games of the season, all against division rivals. Here are the top-10 games, with one home stand and one road trip mixed in, that we’re looking forward to in the regular season.
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1. FLAMES AT CANUCKS – OCT. 3
The season-opener, where we’ll get to see the revamped lineup in action for the first time.
With less than a month remaining in the regular season last year, the Flames were three points out of second place in the Pacific Division and two points out of a wild card spot. But after losing 10 of their last 13 games and finishing 11 points out of a playoff spot, the Flames spent the off-season thinking about what went wrong and trying to figure out how to fix it.
Treliving came to the conclusion that his team needed new leadership behind the bench, a different mix in the dressing room and more talent on the ice. So he hired Bill Peters to replace Glen Gulutzan as head coach, then traded forward Micheal Ferland and defencemen Dougie Hamilton and Adam Fox to the Hurricanes for a pair of former fifth-overall picks, 23-year-old forward Elias Lindholm and 21-year-old defenceman Noah Hanifin.
With significant cap space to work with, the Flames’ GM was also active in free agency. The team signed James Neal, who in addition to being a 10-time 20-goal scorer also brings experience, leadership and swagger to a Flames team that seemed to need all-of-the-above. They also signed late-bloomer Derek Ryan and up-and-comer Austin Czarnik.
With all of the off-season additions and a group of NHL-ready prospects joining an already good core group of players, the Flames look like a team that should make the playoffs and one that could make some noise if they do. Following a long off-season and a taxing September with two rookie games, 10 pre-season games and a trip to-and-from China, the Flames probably can’t wait to start the regular season.
When they renew their rivalry with the Canucks at Rogers Arena in Vancouver in the season-opener on Wednesday night, we’ll start to see if the Flames look as good on the ice as they do on paper.
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2. CANUCKS AT FLAMES – OCT. 6
The home-opener. Even the most pessimistic of Flames fans seem optimistic about the team’s chances to compete this season.
This Saturday, 19,289 fans will fill Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary for the first Flames’ home game of the season. For most, it will be their first chance to see newcomers Czarnik, Hanifin, Lindholm, Neal and Ryan. The Flames also have a pair of highly-touted prospects in Juuso Valimaki and Dillon Dube, who will play in their first regular season home game on Saturday (I’ll get to them a little later on).
3. PREDATORS AT FLAMES – OCT. 9
After opening the season with a home-and-home series against the rebuilding Canucks, the Flames’ first game against a Stanley Cup contender is on Oct. 9, when last season’s Presidents’ Trophy-winning Predators come to Calgary.
With reigning Vezina Trophy winner Pekka Rinne and his heir apparent, Juuse Saros, Nashville boasts one of the best goaltending tandems in the NHL. With a top-four featuring Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Ellis, Roman Josi and P.K. Subban, the Predators also have one of the deepest defence cores in the league. Add Viktor Arvidsson, Filip Forsberg and Ryan Johansen to the mix and the Predators have a lot of stars up and down their lineup. This game should be a good early-season litmus test for the Flames.
4. PENGUINS AND CAPITALS AT FLAMES – OCT. 25 AND OCT. 27
Sandwiched in between a pair of two-game road trips out East, the Flames will face the last three Stanley Cup Champions during a two-game home stand at the ‘Dome.
On Oct. 25, the Flames will play the Penguins, who won back-to-back championships in 2016 and 2017. On Oct. 27, the defending Stanley Cup champion Capitals come to town. In addition having an opportunity to see how the Flames stack up against two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, getting to see Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, two of the greatest players in the history of the game, is always a treat.
5. OILERS AT FLAMES – NOV. 17
The first “Battle of Alberta” of 2018-19. As high as expectations were in Calgary at the start of last season, they were even higher in Edmonton, where the Oilers were considered by many to be Stanley Cup contenders. In hindsight, the highlight of the Oilers’ 2017-18 season may have been their 3-0 shutout victory over their provincial rival in the season-opener. The Oilers lost their next four games and fairly quickly fell out of the playoff race.
While both Alberta-based teams had significant holes to fill during the off-season, the difference was the Flames had way more salary cap space to spend than the Oilers did. General manager Peter Chiarelli’s most significant free agent additions were middle-six winger Tobias Rieder and back-up goaltender Mikko Koskinen.
With that said the Oilers should be better this season than they were last, and we expect them to be in the fight for a playoff spot. And, much like Crosby and Ovechkin, as a hockey fan it’s hard not to relish every opportunity to watch Connor McDavid play. McDavid, who has won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s top point producer in each of the last two seasons, just keeps getting better. And faster.
After losing their first three games against the Oilers last season, the Flames won the last two, a streak that they’ll try to stretch to three with a win in the first of four meetings between the two teams this season.
6. GOLDEN KNIGHTS AT FLAMES – NOV. 19
Coming off of the most successful (and surprising) inaugural season in NHL history, the defending Pacific Division and Western Conference Champion Golden Knights will come to Calgary on Nov. 19 for the first of four games against the Flames in 2018-19.
The Golden Knights won the first three meetings between the two teams last season, out-scoring the Flames 15-5 in the process. One of the many turning points for both teams last season was Vegas’ 4-2 come-from-behind victory in Calgary on Jan. 30. The Flames led 2-1 with less than two minutes remaining in regulation time before the Golden Knights scored the game-tying and game-winning goals 10 seconds apart, adding an insurance goal 43 seconds later.
The game will be the first for Neal vs. his former team, or as he nicknamed them, the “Golden Misfits.” If not for Neal, who scored 25 goals, including the game-winning goal in each of Vegas’ first three games last season, who knows if the Golden Knights would have gone on to have the season that they did.
7. FLAMES AT CAPITALS – FEB. 1
Last season, the Flames were playing their best hockey of the season in late-December and early January. On Jan. 15, the Flames went into their CBA-mandated five-day break with a season-long seven-game winning streak. On Jan. 26, they went into the NHL’s All-Star break with an 11-game point streak. Unfortunately, the Flames seemed to lose momentum during those two breaks in the schedule and weren’t the same team coming out of them. This season, the Flames’ five-day and all-star breaks are tied together, and they’ll go nine days between games from Jan. 23 – Jan. 31. The Flames’ first game back will be on Feb. 1 in Washington, where they’ll take on the defending Stanley Cup Champion Capitals.
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8. MAPLE LEAFS AT FLAMES – MAR. 4
Because Toronto only comes to Calgary once a season, the atmosphere inside of Scotiabank Saddledome when the Maple Leafs make their annual visit should be amazing. By adding arguably the biggest unrestricted free agent in NHL history, John Tavares, to a core that already featured young stars Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander, the Flames will host what we think is the best Leafs team since the early-1990’s on Mar. 4.
9. FLAMES AT SHARKS, KINGS AND DUCKS – MAR. 31, APR. 1 AND APR. 3
Oilers’ radio play-by-play announcer Jack Michaels made a bold prediction to me during the off-season, suggesting that six of the eight Pacific Division teams will finish with 90-or-more points but none will finish with more than 100. While Michaels’ prognostication came prior to the Golden Knights’ trade for Max Pacioretty and the Sharks’ deal for Erik Karlsson, I still think there’s a chance he’s right.
If so, the fight to finish in first, second or third place in the division, or in one of the two wild card spots in the Western Conference, will likely be decided in the last few weeks – or even the last few days of the regular season. The Flames’ final five games are against Pacific Division teams that they’ll likely be battling with, and their three-game road trip to California in the last week could ultimately decide their fate.
10. OILERS AT FLAMES – APR. 6
While we like the Flames’ chances to make the playoffs more than we like the Oilers’, we expect both teams will be better this season than they were last. Can you imagine the fight for a playoff spot for one of, or better yet, both of Alberta’s teams, being decided in the final game of the regular season? We get chills just thinking about it.
The only thing that could possible top that would be a “Battle of Alberta” in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 1991. Fingers crossed.
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FLAMES OPENING NIGHT ROSTER
While the Flames aren’t expected to announce their opening night roster until Tuesday afternoon, the team picture has become clearer in the last 24 hours.
Defenceman Brett Kulak and forwards Curtis Lazar and Anthony Peluso were placed on waivers on Sunday and cleared on Monday.
Less than two hours after clearing waivers, Kulak was traded to the Canadiens for blueliners Matt Taormina and Rinat Valiev, who will report to the Stockton Heat. Kulak, who spent almost all of last season playing on the left side of the team’s third defence pairing with Michael Stone, became expendable with the emergence of 2017 first-round pick, Juuso Valimaki. The 19-year-old will start the season in the NHL, as will 20-year-old forward Dillon Dube, who was one of the stars of the pre-season with four goals and six points in seven games.
Despite playing well during the pre-season, it looks like forwards Andrew Mangiapane and Rasmus Andersson will be on the outside looking in when the season starts, as will Lazar, Peluso and goaltender Jon Gillies, who will likely be heading down to the AHL.
Here’s how I expect the Flames to look when they take to the ice at Rogers Arena in Vancouver for their season-opener against the Canucks on Wednesday night.
Forwards
Johnny Gaudreau – Sean Monahan – Elias Lindholm
Matthew Tkachuk – Michael Backlund – Michael Frolik
Dillon Dube – Derek Ryan – James Neal
Sam Bennett – Mark Jankowski – Austin Czarnik
Defencemen
Mark Giordano – T.J. Brodie
Noah Hanifin – Travis Hamonic
Juuso Valimaki – Michael Stone
Goaltenders
Mike Smith
David Rittich
