Burning bright
There's plenty to cheer about in Calgary.
The Calgary Flames are continuing to enjoy the spoils of their WCHL Cup run of four seasons ago, and are surrounded with a deep stable of young talent, poised to continue the push for another title for the next decade at least.
Those efforts haven't paid off in the last few seasons, but last year seen the Flames return to the third round of the post-season after two straight first round defeats. In fact, Calgary had the Colorado Avalanche on the ropes, up 2-0 in the series, before losing four straight and getting bounced from the playoffs. It wasn't an easy pill to swallow.
"This was horseshit, and they know it," said Flames General Manager Lawson Cham after the game six defeat at the hand of the Avalanche. "We have to good of a team to lose four straight to anyone, nevermind three of those in our own building. These (expletative deleted) are going to pay."
Adios Bruce Boudreau, say hello to Andy Murray as the new Flames coach.
In the end, the one paying the price was Head Coach Bruce Boudreau, who was fired shortly after the series ended. In a surprising twist, Andy Murray was brought in to replace him.
"Murray's awesome," said Cham. "He's a bright guy and his daughter is wicked hot. Going to try and tap me off a piece of that while he's here."
Murray has led the Flames to a 19-10 record, and the team joins the Philadelphia Flyers as the only teams to not lose a game in overtime or a shootout. In fact, both teams have never even gone to a shootout.
With a .655 winning percentage, the Flames sit second in the Western Conference, just three points behind the San Jose Sharks. They have the ninth best winning percentage overall in the WCHL.
"We want to get home ice and hopefully get top seed in the conference for sure, but that's not really a big focus for us at all," said team captain Daniel Briere. "At this point, the expectations in Calgary aren't so much on the regular season. It's all about the post-season, and about winning there. So we are more focused on gearing up for that time of year. We look at the regular season as a very long training camp, a time to get our system down and get ourselves goal-oriented towards winning the cup."
Daniel Briere has been a solid wall of offense for the Flames.
It won't be easy. The Flames will likely meet up with one of the Sharks or Avalanche this year again as well.
"We'll be ready this year," said long-time Flames forward Mike Richards.
Time will tell.
In the meantime, they'll need Daniel Briere to keep things up. The captain is literally leading by example, and has scored 17 goals and 36 points in 29 games, leaving him on pace to score 48 goals and 102 points. From a team last year which boasted three forwards with well over 100 points, Briere is the only one looking likely to repeat that performance.
Steven Stamkos and Dustin Byfuglien are not on pace to repeat their efforts last year. Stamkos was clipping along at a 60 goal pace last year, and racked up almost 140 points. This year, he's not even on pace for 60 points, with just 19 in 29 games so far.
Steven Stamkos and Dustin Byfuglien are capable of much more offensively.
Byfuglien meanwhile was a Norris Trophy candidate last year, averaging almost a point per game in the process. Now, he's managed just 15 points in 29 games.
"Things have been tough, but we are also not playing as wide open of a style this year as we were last year," noted Stamkos.
There's plenty to cheer about in Calgary.
The Calgary Flames are continuing to enjoy the spoils of their WCHL Cup run of four seasons ago, and are surrounded with a deep stable of young talent, poised to continue the push for another title for the next decade at least.
Those efforts haven't paid off in the last few seasons, but last year seen the Flames return to the third round of the post-season after two straight first round defeats. In fact, Calgary had the Colorado Avalanche on the ropes, up 2-0 in the series, before losing four straight and getting bounced from the playoffs. It wasn't an easy pill to swallow.
"This was horseshit, and they know it," said Flames General Manager Lawson Cham after the game six defeat at the hand of the Avalanche. "We have to good of a team to lose four straight to anyone, nevermind three of those in our own building. These (expletative deleted) are going to pay."
Adios Bruce Boudreau, say hello to Andy Murray as the new Flames coach.
In the end, the one paying the price was Head Coach Bruce Boudreau, who was fired shortly after the series ended. In a surprising twist, Andy Murray was brought in to replace him.
"Murray's awesome," said Cham. "He's a bright guy and his daughter is wicked hot. Going to try and tap me off a piece of that while he's here."
Murray has led the Flames to a 19-10 record, and the team joins the Philadelphia Flyers as the only teams to not lose a game in overtime or a shootout. In fact, both teams have never even gone to a shootout.
With a .655 winning percentage, the Flames sit second in the Western Conference, just three points behind the San Jose Sharks. They have the ninth best winning percentage overall in the WCHL.
"We want to get home ice and hopefully get top seed in the conference for sure, but that's not really a big focus for us at all," said team captain Daniel Briere. "At this point, the expectations in Calgary aren't so much on the regular season. It's all about the post-season, and about winning there. So we are more focused on gearing up for that time of year. We look at the regular season as a very long training camp, a time to get our system down and get ourselves goal-oriented towards winning the cup."
Daniel Briere has been a solid wall of offense for the Flames.
It won't be easy. The Flames will likely meet up with one of the Sharks or Avalanche this year again as well.
"We'll be ready this year," said long-time Flames forward Mike Richards.
Time will tell.
In the meantime, they'll need Daniel Briere to keep things up. The captain is literally leading by example, and has scored 17 goals and 36 points in 29 games, leaving him on pace to score 48 goals and 102 points. From a team last year which boasted three forwards with well over 100 points, Briere is the only one looking likely to repeat that performance.
Steven Stamkos and Dustin Byfuglien are not on pace to repeat their efforts last year. Stamkos was clipping along at a 60 goal pace last year, and racked up almost 140 points. This year, he's not even on pace for 60 points, with just 19 in 29 games so far.
Steven Stamkos and Dustin Byfuglien are capable of much more offensively.
Byfuglien meanwhile was a Norris Trophy candidate last year, averaging almost a point per game in the process. Now, he's managed just 15 points in 29 games.
"Things have been tough, but we are also not playing as wide open of a style this year as we were last year," noted Stamkos.
