The game was already sealed as the Calgary Flames were going to lose against the Vancouver Canucks. With just 70 seconds to go, Elias Lindholm scored on the empty net against his former team to put the Canucks up 4–1.
However, in the final minute, the Flames put up one more goal to soften the sting of defeat. The goal itself was meaningless from the perspective of the outcome, but it was a very unique goal based on who got onto the scoresheet.
An all-waiver connection on Calgary’s goal
The Flames have been active on the waivers this year and it’s paid dividends all season long. Early in the season, the Flames claimed A.J. Greer off of waivers from the Boston Bruins. Then over the past two months, Calgary added two more players off of waivers—first taking Brayden Pachal from the Vegas Golden Knights in early February, and then claiming Joel Hanley from the Dallas Stars just days before the trade deadline.
In the final minute of the game, the Flames had possession in the offensive zone. Greer passed the puck to Hanley who quickly passed it to Pachal for a shot attempt near the blueline. The puck was blockered away by Casey DeSmith to the far boards and Hanley took a slap shot that went over DeSmith’s shoulder on a partial screen by his own player.
So there you have it, Hanley’s first goal with the Calgary Flames after being claimed was assisted by other waiver claims. This type of goal must be exceedingly rare as it’s not often a team will make three waiver claims in one season, have them all be playing NHL minutes, and have them on the ice at the same time, and actually score a goal.
Talk about an alignment of the stars.
Clamouring for the claims
The Flames’ roster construction this year is drastically different compared to other seasons. With Craig Conroy‘s trade deadline approach of managing assets, a lot of long-time Flames on expiring contracts were shipped away for assets. This in turn led to an active approach with the waiver system and the Flames are genuinely better with the players they acquired and this goal simply backs up that notion.
