Flames on the Rise

It has been said that to be successful in sports, it is not always about having the best players but about having the right players bonding and gelling and connecting at the right time. In the case of the 2021 Calgary Flames, neither of those statements unfortunately rang true.

The Flames finished with a 33-43-4 record in 2021 amassing 70 points in 80 games putting them at 23^rd overall out of 31 teams. While Calgary had some offensive flare in elite dynamo Jack Hughes flanked by the speedy Andrew Mangiapane and the rugged Miles Wood and solid contributions from the second and third lines, it was on the defensive side of the puck where the team struggled. They were a collective -254 in plus/minus and suffered with a 3.76 goals against average garnering only 1 shutout while finishing dead last in the league on the penalty kill.

The Flames needed a spark.

The Calgary franchise hired GM Jeff Irvine who welcomed the challenge of making the team more competitive. Irvine recognized what needed to be done and set to work on making the necessary changes. Initially getting his feet wet with a couple of ill-advised trades just prior to the 2022 Entry Level Draft, GM Irvine made a greater impact during the draft itself landing future superstar Dman Brandt Clarke and picking up potential Top 6 forwards Adam Sykora, Conor Geekie and Bryce McConnell-Barker.

Following the draft, Irvine sought to improve possession numbers and brought in solid faceoff men in William Karlsson, Christian Dvorak, Alex Wennberg and Adam Lowry. The defense was changed up by moving out veterans Ryan Suter, Will Butcher and Derek Forbort along with young but floundering Zach Whitecloud and Oliver Kylington. Arriving for the 2022 season were massive defensive stalwart Jamie Oleksiak and solid two-way Dman Vladislav Gavrikov. Returning to the defensive core were veteran Cody Ceci and burgeoning stars Rasmus Andersson and Noah Hanifin who along with Cal Foote graduating from the Calgary Wranglers farm team completed the Top 6.

A key component of the Flames that GM Irvine wanted to improve was goaltending. In a shrewd move, Irvine brought in Alexandar Georgiev to initially mentor from veteran Jake Allen but the young netminder took over the starting role as the season wore on. The tandem collectively has a 2.54 GAA and has picked up 6 shutouts as of this writing, almost shaving off a full one and one half goals against per game.

The finishing touch was bringing in Coach Darryl Sutter to bring it all together. Coach Sutter helped steer the team to fourth place in the tough Pacific Division, a Top 5 position overall in the Western Conference and to the cusp of a playoff spot.

While improving the team defense overall was the main focus, seeing the team become as competetive as they have along with the very real possibility of making a potential splash in the playoffs has been a welcome surprise. Furthermore, GM Irvine was able to create and retain a young core (the team is fourth youngest in the league) led by franchise centre Hughes without breaking the bank by using high draft picks nor trading away key prospects such as Connor Zary and Adam Ruzicka.

With a solid year of bonding and competing together under their collective belts, the Flames players have grown together as a team ensuring that the future is bright in Calgary.