At this point, it’s almost a cliche to say that Mikael Backlund’s been a life preserver for the Calgary Flames. For the better part of the past decade, Backlund’s line has been relied upon to give the club quality minutes.
The Calgary Flames had a weird season in 2023-24, and there’s no better illustration of that weirdness than their special teams play. The club swapped
Jonathan Huberdeau has now finished his second season with the Calgary Flames and his struggles continue. Huberdeau was one of the biggest pieces acquired by Calgary via the Matthew Tkachuk trade and his arrival came with high expectations.
If the Calgary Flames were going to succeed in the 2023-24 regular season, it was going to be because the big-name, big-money players stepped up their respective games.
So much for a bounce-back season. When Jonathan Huberdeau first arrived in Calgary after an offseason trade with the Florida Panthers, fans believed that the team was in as good of shape if not better to contend for a Stanley Cup.
The Calgary Flames fell 4-1 in the penultimate game of the 2023-24 season to the Vancouver Canucks, but even though the score might seem a bit lopsided with the Flames not scoring a goal until the third period from Brayden Pachal (his second of the season) head coach Ryan Huska was a fan of the team’s effort and output.
The Calgary Flames have been in ‘small victory’ mode for a long while so let’s take a look at a glimmer of positivity amidst this tank, oops, sorry, stretch drive.
The Calgary Flames got a shorthanded goal early and never looked back as they rolled over the Anaheim Ducks in a 6-3 win. The Flames handily controlled the pace of play for all three periods, only having about 10 minutes at the start of the third where they were collapsing a bit defensively.
By the time the Calgary Flames were able to seriously apply pressure it was already too late as the Los Angeles Kings took them down on Thursday night.
The Calgary Flames continued their swing through California on Thursday night against the Los Angeles Kings. And unfortunately for the Flames, they faced a really focused, motivated Kings team that controlled a big portion of the hockey game.
The Calgary Flames don’t currently have a core. Yes, they have some strong veteran players. They also have some promising young prospects. But they don’t have the foundational pieces that every contending team in the National Hockey League has built around.
The Calgary Flames decided they were not going to be the team that keeps losing to the San Jose Sharks, but it took them until the second period before the winning pace picked itself up.
The Calgary Flames didn’t have a great first period on Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks. But man, if you toss out the first 10 minutes or so, they were really good against a Sharks team that entered the game with the 32nd-best record out of the NHL’s 32 teams.
The Calgary Flames gave their fans plenty to cheer for even in a loss to the playoff bound Edmonton Oilers. Calgary played them as hard as any playoff team would really showing pride in their team performance despite being officially eliminated from playoff contention after their last loss.
On Thursday night, for the first time in his National Hockey League career, Connor Zary was a spectator when the Flames played the Winnipeg Jets. On Saturday night, also for the first time in his NHL career, Zary was a centre when the Flames played the Edmonton Oilers.
The point drop-off from Jonathan Huberdeau’s last season with the Florida Panthers under the combined coaching of Joel Quenneville and Andrew Brunette to his first season with the Calgary Flames under Darryl Sutter was the biggest in NHL history.
The Calgary Flames slowly let the determined Washington Capitals take over the game. Despite their ability to get high quality looks more frequently than the visitors, the Capitals never quit peppering young Wolf with shots.
It took quite some time, but Calgary Flames fans will gladly admit, later is better than never. It really appeared as though Jonathan Huberdeau’s struggles may simply be a player who just lost the talent he once had.
One of the most talented players on the Calgary Flames roster has not played up to expectations. However, there is still time for Jonathan Huberdeau for turn things around this season.
Among the many things going wrong in the province of Alberta, one that may be the most shocking is the decline of Jonathan Huberdeau.
The 2023-24 NHL season is through its first month, so let's look at some winners and losers.
Jonathan Huberdeau hopes the 2023-24 season can be a bounce-back year for him and the Calgary Flames.
If the Calgary Flames and the Arizona Coyotes were able to strike a deal involving Jonathan Huberdeau, I am sure that shockwaves would reverberate throughout the hockey world.
Many teams are looking to improve their top-six scoring, and this is where Huberdeau will add value.
Things appear to be reaching a boiling point between Jonathan Huberdeau’s camp and the Calgary Flames.
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