Returning from bye weeks hasn’t been an especially pleasant experience for the Calgary Flames over the last couple of seasons.
A year ago, they came back from the all-star game and bye week and promptly lost five of their next six games.
In 2018, it was even worse. They returned from their mini-vacations and promptly lost six games in a row – four losses did, admittedly, come in overtime or shootouts.
The Flames can’t afford that sort slip-up this season. Not in an insanely tight Pacific Division where a grand total of one point separates first place from fifth.
“We’ve talked about it, obviously,” said Flames head coach Geoff Ward. “We’re right in the middle of a playoff race now and every game is important to us, so we want to make sure we’re ready coming off the break.
“It’s nothing we’re talking about a lot, but we do want to make sure we’re controlling how we’re preparing to play and, for us, we talk about it all the time but it’s one game at a time for us and right now we want to make sure we’re ready to play Tuesday against (the St. Louis Blues).
“Get some battle in, just review some systems play, work on some tactics. All those things, basically, to get the saw sharpened a bit again.”
Having the Western Conference-leading Blues roll into town for their first game after the bye week and all-star game should be more than enough to get the Flames focused.
The fact that they’ve got a follow-up game against the Oilers the next night in Edmonton should guarantee that they’re locked in mentally.
The Flames don’t seem to be taking any chances, though.
They practised for nearly an hour and a half on Sunday night and will be back on the ice again on Monday afternoon.
“I think, today, we had a good practice. A long, hard practice and I think that’s what you need,” said Flames centre Sean Monahan. “I’m not sure in the past we’ve ever had two practices before, but obviously (this year) we get two practices under our belts and a morning skate, so right now it’s an important time in the season.
“Every game matters, every shift matters and right now as a team, we know what’s at stake.”
The Flames are certainly aware of how things have gone at this juncture in the past couple seasons, although Mikael Backlund believes last year was a lot better than the year before.
They just need to be even better this year if they’re going to keep pace with their Pacific Division rivals and, ideally, pull away from the pack at some point soon.
That’s the goal, and Backlund believes the Flames have the right mentality to get it done.
“The year before (2017-18) was not what we wanted, but I thought we learned from that last year and now we’re one year older, one year wiser, one year more-experienced,” Backlund said. “We know we have to come out stronger right away. There are big games, right away.”
AFFECTED
Kobe Bryant may have played in another sport, but the guys inside the Calgary Flames locker room were deeply affected by the news of his death – and eight others – in a helicopter accident on Sunday morning.
That’s completely unsurprising. Bryant was a global sporting superstar whose impact went far beyond basketball.
“He’s an icon,” Monahan said. “I think almost every athlete I know is someone who looked up to him. For me, the first basketball jersey I ever had was a Kobe jersey. He was someone I (loved) to watch play.”
Monahan certainly wasn’t alone.
“It’s awful. Kind of gave me stomach issues just thinking about it,” said Johnny Gaudreau. “Just a great athlete, he’s got a family and just real sad news. Being an athlete, you’re always flying and going from here to there, so it’s really sad.
“I was a big fan of him, obviously, I watched a lot of his videos when he was cheering for the (Philadelphia) Eagles when we went on that Super Bowl run and he’s a big Eagles fan, I loved watching that. He was a big supporter of women’s sports and stuff like that, so he’s done a lot for that … A lot of people are going to miss him, it’s an awful day for the sports world. It’s just sad.”
Ward said the news had affected the entire locker room.
“We lost an icon,” the coach said. “We lost a guy who has grown into a global athlete. We were talking in our room today and a lot of guys are feeling it, just with how much of a fan some of our guys were of his. It’s not only what he meant to the basketball world but what he meant to the sporting world. He carried himself with a lot of class and … was a role model for a lot of people. It was tragic.”
RECALLED
The Flames announced on Sunday afternoon that they recalled Buddy Robinson from the Stockton Heat.
The New jersey native is leading the Heat with 16 goals in 40 games this season. The 28-year-old was signed by the Flames in 2018 after spending the previous season with the Winnipeg Jets.
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