When you play Texas Hold 'em and luck is not on your side, you can find your stack of chips dwindling. As the cards come, you look for a hand to go ALL-IN with. Is it a low pocket pair? A couple suited face cards? Maybe a Jack/10 Suited? But when you have THAT hand, you shove those chips in! The Calgary Flames got that hand in the February and it became clear that it was good enough to bet on themselves. Did they double up or did they go bust? We're breaking down the smoke left behind from the Flames 2021-2022 season.
21-22 Expectations: The Calgary Flames made big splashes in the 2020 off-season with the signing of Jacob Markstrom and Chris Tanev from the Vancouver Canucks, but it didn't translate into success for the Flames and they brought BACK in Darryl Sutter as Head Coach. He was the last coach to lead the Flames to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2004, but could Sutter bring that magic back to Alberta with the championship pedigree he earned in LA.
21-22 Result: The Calgary Flames came out of the game as a top 5 team in the NHL. The Flames lit the lamp 68 times (4th most thru 20 games) and let up 38 goals (2nd best thru 20 games) leading to a 12-3-5 record going into American Thanksgiving. Sutter's fingerprints were all over this team as their specialty teams were outstanding in the early part of the season. Their PK was operating at 87.7% (3rd best) and their power play was clicking at a 24.6% rate (6th best). Despite the chaos covid did to their season - a season where the Flames had 13 days off THREE different times this season - but Calgary continued to win throughout the year. The Flames did not play a home game from December 9th to February 9th. This was a year where their star player, Johnny Gaudreau, was going to become an unrestricted free agent. Rumors of him getting traded to the Philadelphia Flyers dominated hockey radio. Well...those have been going on for years. Instead the Flames brought in talent en route to a 50 win, 111 point season, which is the most points since 1989 when the Flames won their last Cup.
What Went Right: Jacob Markstrom began the season as the hottest goalie in the NHL as the net minder began the season with 3 shutouts in his first 6 games. His 1.33 GAA and 0.957 save % were unreal. Markstrom would continue to be strong the entire season with only one month of the season ever a 2.63 GAA (3.00 GAA in December) and he had a whopping FOUR MONTHS with a Save % over 0.925. In any other season, Markstrom would have won a Vezina, but he was up against a historic Igor Shesterkin season.
What more could you say about the Flames top line? Matthew Tkachuk got his first 100 point season (104) and it prompted may ribbings from his father, Keith Tkachuk. Matthew easily enjoyed the best season of his career scoring career highs in goals (42), assists (62) and points. His American linemate, "Johnny Hockey", also posted career highs in each category (40-75-115) while the third member of the top line, Elias Lindholm, did the same in goals (42) and points (82). That shocked the league to a combined +183 from their best line! +183!!!!! Are you kidding me?!!!
Beyond the top line, Andrew Mangiapane scored a new high 35 goals. That is exactly his last two seasons put together. Rasmus Andersson (50) and Noah Hanifin (48) turned in great seasons with (stop me if you heard this before) career highs with points. Then the Flames started believing in this team and started ADDING talent. Where should they start? How about with a guy that won two Stanley Cups with Darryl Sutter; Tyler Toffoli. The talented two way forward IMMEDIATELY made a splash with the Flames, scoring in his first game, and finished with a 11 goals and 12 assists in 37 games.
What Went Wrong: Let's start with a player that Calgary brought in at the deadline, but didn't make an impact: Calle Jarnkrok. The former Seattle/Nashville center didn't score a goal in Alberta and only notched 4 assists in 17 goals as a Flame. Ryan Carpenter produced even less in the 8 games he had with the Flames. Sean Monahan continued his "maybe he'll return to 2019" tour for another year. The former 3-time 30 goal scorer lit the lamp 8 times this season and is owed $6.375m next season after undergoing hip surgery. Lastly, in the 2nd round of the playoffs, they had no answers for McDavid and Draisaitl as the Oilers dispatched them in 5 games.
Reasons to be Optimistic: Clearly, this team has the talent and bought in to Darryl Sutter and with Tkachuk and Mangiapane returning, maybe the Flames can do better in the season and the playoffs. Reigning Coach of the Year Darryl Sutter has spun straw into gold before and this could be his biggest challenge. Markstrom was a Vezina finalist that looks like his $6m a year deal might not be wasted money.
Reasons to be Pessimistic: Johnny Gaudreau's UFA status hung over this team like a dark cloud and to the Flames credit, they went for success instead of selling off their star to "not lose him for nothing". The Flames were a legit Stanley Cup contender and Gaudreau had his career best season in goals, assists and points. Is it really a best decision for him to leave for a Philadelphia Flyers team that's in turmoil or a New Jersey Devils team that has potential, but that's about it? If Gaudreau leaves, what is Calgary's plan B? Is it Filip Forsberg? Hard to think that OHL 2nd overall scoring leader Rory Kerins (43-75-118) is ready to fill the former Boston College star's shoes, but he may need to if Gaudreau heads south in free agency.
22-23 Expectations: The Calgary Flames were picked by yours truly to win the 2022 Stanley Cup; THAT"S HOW GOOD THEY WERE THIS YEAR! Can they be this good next season if Johnny Gaudreau moves on? That's a tough question. Losing a 100 points scorer puts quite the dent in the offensive scheme and Matthew Tkachuk needs to be re-signed under a hefty RFA deal. It's hard to fathom Calgary can recovering from that, but Darryl Sutter is a great coach and the Islanders were able to lose John Tavares and have their most prosperous time since their dynasty. Could Sutter do what Barry Trotz did? Next year, the Stanley Cup will be a long shot, but they should still be a playoff team without Gaudreau.
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