Nobody had this on their bingo card at the start of the season, but on the back of stellar goaltending and a resurgent season from Nazem Kadri and Jonathan Huberdeau, the Flames are somehow in the playoff picture. With 17 games left in the season, the Flames sit two points back of the Vancouver Canucks, who hold down the final wild card spot in the Western Conference.
It’s going to be a dogfight right to the final game.of the season, with four teams competing for the last playoff spot, but the Flames should be doing everything they can to earn that last spot. Here’s why.
Playoff hockey is great for the kids
The Flames are in the middle of a retool, and General Manager Craig Conroy has been clear that he wants his younger players to get ample playing time this season and going forward. If there was ever an opportunity to give his young players experience, it’s playing in the playoffs.
Playoff hockey isn’t the same as regular season hockey, and while the Flames have seen great growth from Matt Coronato and Connor Zary up front, having them play in the playoffs—when the emotions are higher, the fight is greater, and space is at much more of a premium—will be so beneficial for their development. This is something neither has experienced to this point and playing in the playoffs will be excellent for their growth.
It will also give the team an opportunity to evaluate how their young stars do when the lights are brighter, and the stakes are higher. Some players play bigger when the chips are down, while others shrink into the shadows. The Flames have seen both types of player on their roster in the last number of seasons. To see what their best players can do in the playoffs is helpful for the team’s management.
Beyond that, it’s a chance for this team to grow as a unit. The Flames have talked lots this season about how close their group is and how they have a very good mix of veterans and young players in the room together. Between Kadri, Blake Coleman, and Ryan Lomberg, the team has players who have won the Stanley Cup and know what it takes to push through four rounds.
Even if they lose in four games and don’t win anything, the ability for their top players to be mentors right now is immensely important for the growth of the new core.
It’s time to forget “Team Tank”
Look, the Flames are mired in the playoff race, and frankly, we are well beyond the point of being able to look at tanking this season. Barring a major collapse or multiple key injuries, this team is not going to finish in the bottom 10.
To finish in the lottery this year, the Flames would likely need to finish with 85 points on the year, which means they would need to earn up to 14 points in their next 17 games. With 36 total points available (two points per win), the team could only win seven of their next 17 games and finish the year with a 0.38 win percentage through the end of the season. With how the Flames are performing this season and with Dustin Wolf in net, this seems impossible.
If the Flames miss the playoffs, they are unlikely to finish in a lottery spot, which means they will finish somewhere between 11th and 16th in the standings. With how the conditions worked in the Sean Monahan trade, the Flames would then give their first-round pick to the Montreal Canadiens. And even if they didn’t draft 14th—or more likely 16th with the Flames’ history—versus drafting 18th, it is not a major difference. The difference is the playoff experience, which is more valuable.
Playoffs are great for the city and fans
And even if you take this team, the future, and everything else out of it, playoff hockey is great for this city. Playoff hockey is an amazing atmosphere that brings this city together like nothing else. It’s great revenue for businesses and the city and is, frankly, a lot of fun for fans.
This team hasn’t been a heck of a lot of fun to watch the last couple of years, and giving fans something to enjoy is good for the fandom. Generations of hockey fans are born in the playoffs, whether that was the ’04 Cup run, the 2015 run, or the most recent one that we remember the first round and wish we could forget the second. Playoffs are a shot in the arm for a franchise, and this franchise could use one.
And hey, if the Flames sneak in, it’s a coin flip. Wolf has nearly singlehandedly won the Stockton Heat a playoff round in the past and was outstanding in every playoff he played in in the AHL. With a few goals from their depth and decent production from the team’s top players, they have a chance—albeit small—of actually causing damage in the playoffs.
But even if they don’t, even if they lose in four straight games, it’s still better for them to play in the playoffs. It’s too late to tank; it’s too late to sell expiring assets, and it’s too late and frankly too old to bemoan the fact that this team is winning when the numbers say they shouldn’t be. Analytics are good predictors, but a win is a win, and this team is getting them. It’s time to be on Team Playoffs.
Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire
