Through Fire and Flames: Why You Should Root for the Calgary Flames

I hate introductions. There's so much pressure that comes with them, because really, you only have one chance to grab people in, to make a good first impression. When I wrote wrestling columns, the intro was always the most difficult part. What fun is there trying to come up with some long winded build up when you can just get to the meat and potatoes of what you want to talk about? Thus, we're going to keep this short and sweet, or at least I would've if I hadn't rambled on about intros there like a Roman Reigns promo. If you happen to read a lot of these posts (and if you do, thank you. You're awesome. The best around even), you're going to be reading a lot about the following things; movies, basketball, hockey, baseball, wrestling, video games and the mess that is NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (let's be real, he's going to mess up again). Most importantly though, you're hopefully going to have fun, the kind would have with NASCAR if it wasn't run by the most incompetent leaders since the last team Grady Little managed. 

But enough about introductions, let's get to it. Today's topic; hockey. For those of you who were too busy watching the Brooklyn Nets luck clinch their way into the NBA playoffs, the NHL playoffs started last night. And while this may be the overreacting hockey fan in me, it was a doozy. Three of the four games played last night were tight, with the Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators going to overtime while the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks took their game down to the last possible second of regulation. When a game like Ottawa-Montreal, which featured seven combined goals and was only a one score game itself, doesn't live up to those other two, you know it's a special night. Really, the only way NHL commissioner Gary Bettman would've been happier with how everything went is if Sydney Crosby had played in every game. It was that good, and tonight promises to be more of the same, with each game featuring a great story from Crosby's Pittsburgh Penguins facing the New York Rangers (as high profile a match up as it gets) to the Winnipeg Jets making their first playoff appearance since 1996.

There will be time to talk about tonight however. What I'd like to talk about now however is Calgary-Vancouver game, specifically the Calgary part of the equation. Of all the teams in the playoffs right now, I would venture to guess the Calgary Flames are the least known, save for the fact that their alternate home jersey is the greatest thing since Blade Runner. And it makes sense; teams on the west coast that aren't in Los Angeles don't get as much play here in the East, a fact especially true in hockey where Canada is treated like Pierce Hawthorne at the study group table. But there's another factor involved here that has kept Calgary in the shadows. What is it? The belief among many that the Flames, simply put, don't belong in these NHL playoffs. It's what has kept people from looking into them. It's also about to be the reason that makes the Flames, along with Winnipeg, one of the fan favorites for a deep run this year.

You see, the fact is that the Calgary Flames, like Dante Hicks in Clerks, aren't supposed to be here. Everyone making that claim is absolutely right. The Flames were supposed to be terrible this year, part of a long rebuild process spearheaded by former Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs executive Brian Burke that was brought upon after former GM Jay Feaster treated the team the way Alex Guinness treated the bridge at the end of Bridge on the River Kwai. According to some advanced stats, the team was in fact bad this year, ranking third worst in five on five possession and behind the depressing Maple Leafs in SAT differential. While I don't believe advanced stats are the be all, end all as some do, those particular categories are strong indicators of what makes a team good or bad, and Calgary is bad at both.. I don't mean to sound like a broken record, but I think the evidence speaks for itself; the Calgary Flames don't belong in the NHL playoffs. It's that simple.

 

And yet it's not, for here the Flames are, up 1-0 against the favored Canucks in round one, a week removed from stealing a playoff spot from the defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Los Angeles Kings. There are great stories all over the roster. Right winger Jiri Hudler, a former Detroit Red Wing, has gone from a journeyman to a top five NHL scorer. 21 year old Sean Monahan, a former first round pick, has turned into a phenomenon in only his second year. Fellow 21 year old Johnny Gaudreau has been such a standout that he's earned the wonderfully cult nickname of Johnny Hockey. Defenceman Kris Russell, who scored last night's game winner and is lucky to be 5'10 soaking wet, blocked almost 300 shots during the season and yet played in all, but two games.  Goaltender Jonas Hiller looks like a rejuvenated man after years of playoff disappointment in Anaheim. And the best player for Calgary last night, Sam Bennett, is an 18 year old rookie who was playing in only his second NHL game. Aaron Sorkin couldn't write this stuff.

Everything about the Flames is just wonderful, even if it doesn't make a lick of sense. Except, maybe it does. Crazy, right? For all the advanced stats that can be thrown out there, there's nothing that accounts for hard work, will and determination. That's what Calgary possesses, thanks to the mindset installed into the team by former Stanley Cup winning coach Bob Hartley. How else could journeymen like Hudler, Russell and Hiller suddenly blossom into game changing talent? What other reason could there be for kids like Monahan, Gaudreau and Bennett for playing beyond their years? I'm not knocking advanced stats here; there's certainly a place for them in the wacky of world of sports, hockey included. But there's also still a place for the type of hockey the Calgary Flames are playing, or at least I hope there is. Plus, when isn't it fun to watch 29 guys come together and succeed, when every bit of conventional wisdom says otherwise?

Does this mean the Calgary Flames are going to win the Stanley Cup? Of course not; for all I know, they may not win another game against Vancouver in this first round series. I'm not sure that matters though; what matters, if I can quote Emilio Estevez in the first Might Ducks film, is that they're there. For that alone, I'm rooting for the Calgary Flames, and I suggest you should as well. If not that, there's always those awesome jerseys. You're really going to pull against that beautiful combo of Daredevil red, white and gold?

                                                            Best. Jersey. Ever.

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