If the Calgary Flames are going to be successful this season, general manager Brad Treliving thinks it’ll be because of his team’s consistency.
“The league is so tight, you’ve got to find ways to get points on a consistent basis,” Treliving said Friday during an appearance on Hockey Central at Noon. “It’s turbulent at the beginning of the season and the league’s volatile.”
The Flames didn’t quite get off to the start they wanted, alternating wins and losses before the current two-game winning streak they’re on. They scored more than three goals for the first time this season in their 5-1 win over the Red Wings Thursday.
“You see some of the scores that are high and you look around and you see power-play percentages that are at 40 per cent and some that are at two per cent and goaltending, a little like April pitching in baseball where it can be a little bit all over the board,” Treliving continued. “But as you get into that 10-, 15-game mark you start to settle down a little bit and you can try to get your rhythm. And you see there’s a discrepancy in games played here between some teams, so a lot going on at the beginning of the year, but in order to be a playoff team you have to be a consistent team.”
Another clear and obvious key to success for the Flames is the play of goalie David Rittich, who’s off to a strong 4-2-1 start with a .919 save percentage and 2.55 goals-against average.
“He’s got a great personality, he’s loved by his teammates, he’s a competitive kid,” Treliving said of the 27-year-old Czech netminder. “He’s flexible, he’s a tremendous athlete.”
Rittich finished with a .911 save percentage, 2.61 GAA and an impressive 27-9-5 record in 45 appearances (42 starts) last year while splitting the crease with Mike Smith. This season, the starter’s job is his to lose.
“He’s taken a step every year that he’s been in North America,” Treliving said. “When we first got him he was trying to figure out the American (Hockey) League, a year later he was one of the top goaltenders in the American League. Then he gets some games in the NHL and Smitty (Mike Smith) gets hurt a couple years ago down the stretch and it was a great experience for him to go through. At that point, by and large, he was a rookie goaltender in North America and we’re trying to have him save our season down the stretch. As I said at the end of that year, we’re going to be better for it and he’s going to be better for it.”
Treliving and his staff sat down with Rittich at the end of the 2018-19 season, telling him one way to take the next step would be to get into the best shape possible – and Rittich listened.
“He’s really changed his diet around. He really dug into his conditioning this summer,” Treliving added. “Was always a guy who looked after himself but he took it to another level this summer in terms of just the work he put in and just changing a little bit about how he looked after his body. Everything from nutrition – he was drinking a lot of Coca-Cola – and cut out a lot of the sugar and you could see when he came back this fall the transformation his body had.
“Just a real good competitive guy and a hard-working guy. He’s usually the first here every morning. … A well-liked guy and loved by the staff and his teammates.”
The Flames return to the ice Saturday on the road against the Los Angeles Kings, which recent history tells us should be must-watch.
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