It was a winnable hockey game. The Calgary Flames outplayed the Anaheim Ducks five-on-five and Brian Elliott made 38 of 41 saves in a 3-2 loss. So, what went wrong? Well, it was a familiar lack of discipline combined with an inability to create enough good scoring chances against John Gibson, the Ducks goaltender who […]

The Calgary Flames will need outstanding performances from their entire supporting cast of players if they want to upset the Anaheim Ducks in the playoffs. Late in the season, head coach Glen Gulutzan found some good chemistry on a third line composed of Kris Versteeg, Sam Bennett, and Alex Chiasson, which was an encouraging development. […]

  The old saying “Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face” is one the Calgary Flames might want to remember as they head into the playoffs. It’s the time of year when teams win hockey games through controlled emotion and mental toughness more than they do through skill and speed. On Wednesday night, […]

Following Mikael Backlund’s lead, the Calgary Flames are creating team success ahead of individual glory by playing a complete style of hockey. Fans are seeing fewer turnovers, especially from Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan who were trying to break into the zone alone instead of making a short pass to a teammate. They are also […]

Last week, the Calgary Flames battled through a tough three-game road trip, an untimely suspension and a key injury to prove they won’t be playoff pushovers. It started when recently promoted top-line winger Micheal Ferland had to go into quarantine with symptoms of the mumps and it continued with Matthew Tkachuk’s two-game suspension for elbowing L.A. […]

Are Dennis Wideman, Deryk Engelland and Troy Brouwer overpaid or over the hill? Maybe, but the Calgary Flames needed them to beat the Stanley Cup Champions. Okay, they also needed this amazing goal from Johnny Gaudreau. Still, the scapegoat story line is something no one would’ve expected when the Flames played the Penguins in a key […]

Remember Brian Elliott’s awful .882 save percentage in his first 12 games? Back then he was keeping the Calgary Flames from the playoffs. Not anymore. Today, Elliott and his recent back-to-back shutouts are a big reason why the Flames find themselves in fourth place in the Western Conference with a grasp on home ice advantage […]

Chad Johnson and Brian Elliott would probably testify that it isn’t easy to be a goalie for the Calgary Flames. After all, only nine goalies have played more than 100 games for the Flames since they came to Calgary in 1980 and the team has missed the playoffs in 14 of the 36 seasons they […]

Every time Dennis Wideman pinches in from the point, head coach, Glen Gulutzan and the Calgary Flames collectively must hold their breath. All too often a speedy winger will chip the puck off the boards to create an odd-man rush and the result is often a goal against. Wideman isn’t the only problem however. The […]

Kevin Bieksa and Micheal Ferland hate each other. But, since their feud began 18 months ago, Ferland has elevated his game to a whole new level. Still, the hatred between the two was obvious as they exchanged haymakers in the first period of a recent 8-3 home-ice drubbing by the Flames over Bieksa’s new team […]

Mark Jankowski, the dark-horse first round pick from 2012, travelled more than 7,000 miles over six days last week to play just ten minutes of NHL hockey. His debut came at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Monday night after what can only be described as a colorful and slow-paced journey to the NHL for […]

It was a road trip the Calgary Flames were dreading. Six games in a 10-day span with four matches played on back-to-back nights. Yet, somehow they emerged with seven of a possible 12 points, earning three wins and an overtime loss. Flames newcomer Kris Versteeg summed up the impact of the trip on the players […]

Just 10 days after calling his team a fragile hockey club after a loss to the New York Rangers, head coach Glen Gulutzan left some people wondering about his own coaching skills. At a crucial point during the Flames’ recent game against the Buffalo Sabres, he neglected to call a timeout to refocus his team […]