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Another win, by the Flames, and already so close to clinching a playoff spot. We're still in February and we are already introducing a magic number.....which if my calculations are correct is 11, as we are 20 points ahead of Chicago who has 21 games left, but we win the tie breaker should there be one.
 
After they lost those 5 of 6 games I was starting to wonder if this was a repeat of last year's after break meltdown, but they're back on track. Also 3 of the 5 games they lost were against good teams who were on a roll. The two shootout games they lost were games they should have won, so I guess the turnaround shouldn't be too surprising.. The last time the Flames were this comfortable for getting a playoff spot would have been early 90's.
 
It was a long break and it took them a while to get back in the groove. Plus playing Tampa and red hot San Jose didn't help. I'm glad to see them winning, and more importantly winning without relying on the big line so much.Guys like Ryan, Czarnick and Mangiapane contributing.
 
Totally agree. Those guys have been kind of underappreciated and some (like Hath) hated on for a lot of the year, glad they're getting attention now.
I still think it's incredibly understated how good Lindholm has been for us. Though most of our top guys are ice cold right now, he's still lights out, and has been all season. Most consistent player, bar none. I'm amazed he's not the frontrunner for Selke right now. 69 points, +29, plays on the top PP, PK, first line, average time on ice of 20:18. He hits, he shoots, he passes. He does it all. Most people thought he'd be a passenger on that line with Gaudreau and Monahan. No. He carries lines. He was moved to the 2nd line for the past few games, and guess what? That 2nd line has been lights out. Both Frolik and Backlund are suddenly on big scoring sprees. The resultant top line of Gaudreau Monahan and Tkachuk looks lost offensively and especially defensively without him. Lindholm has been an incredible addition.

Just as I'm typing this everything's going nuts again, trade deadline season is crazy man. Dzingel to Columbus, Zuccarello to Dallas, and apparently I've heard from quite a few Hayes to Calgary, though that's not confirmed yet. He's a 26 year old, 6'5 ~40-50 point scorer, $5.2M cap hit and a UFA after this season. Not bad, but I'd rather hold out for Stone even if he's more expensive. We'll see. If it is Hayes, I hope we can snag Adam McQuaid from the Rangers too, cheap hard-hitting defenseman.
 
Surrealplaces said:
Another win, by the Flames, and already so close to clinching a playoff spot. We're still in February and we are already introducing a magic number.....which if my calculations are correct is 11, as we are 20 points ahead of Chicago who has 21 games left, but we win the tie breaker should there be one.
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The Flames magic number is now 10 games or 20 points, but realistically it's probably about 3 or 4. At the rate Colorado and Minnesota are going a team would likely need about 90 points to get in, and Calgary already has 83.

If you go by this site they are listed as 'might win' a playoff spot even losing all of their remaining games.
 
Lindholm has looked good with those guys. I think Gaudreau and Monahan just need to get used to playing Tkachuck and things will click. Keep in mind that the top line has been sluggish for a while with Lindholm as well. IMHO, Gaudreau is the driving force of the top line. When he's on the line goes. Monahan is a solid player, but more of a finisher, and a great one at that, but Gaudreau is the mostly guy that creates things. I totally agree though, Lindholm has been a great addition.

Meikkhaell said:
Totally agree. Those guys have been kind of underappreciated and some (like Hath) hated on for a lot of the year, glad they're getting attention now.
I still think it's incredibly understated how good Lindholm has been for us. Though most of our top guys are ice cold right now, he's still lights out, and has been all season. Most consistent player, bar none. I'm amazed he's not the frontrunner for Selke right now. 69 points, +29, plays on the top PP, PK, first line, average time on ice of 20:18. He hits, he shoots, he passes. He does it all. Most people thought he'd be a passenger on that line with Gaudreau and Monahan. No. He carries lines. He was moved to the 2nd line for the past few games, and guess what? That 2nd line has been lights out. Both Frolik and Backlund are suddenly on big scoring sprees. The resultant top line of Gaudreau Monahan and Tkachuk looks lost offensively and especially defensively without him. Lindholm has been an incredible addition.

Just as I'm typing this everything's going nuts again, trade deadline season is crazy man. Dzingel to Columbus, Zuccarello to Dallas, and apparently I've heard from quite a few Hayes to Calgary, though that's not confirmed yet. He's a 26 year old, 6'5 ~40-50 point scorer, $5.2M cap hit and a UFA after this season. Not bad, but I'd rather hold out for Stone even if he's more expensive. We'll see. If it is Hayes, I hope we can snag Adam McQuaid from the Rangers too, cheap hard-hitting defenseman.
Click to expand...
 
Aaaaaaaaaand we did nothing. Well. I guess we added checks notes Oscar Fantenberg? Don't worry, I said "who?" as well.
We have a great team and all, but just looking at how cheap some of these guys ended up being is irritating. Vegas basically ended up snagging Mark freaking Stone for an okay prospect, a pretty garbage NHLer, and a 2nd round pick. Apparently last night there was some "massive trade" in the works that fell through last minute between Calgary and Ottawa ... and I'd bet money Ottawa would've gotten a hell of a lot more from even the Flames INITIAL offer than what they got from Vegas last minute. We also failed to lock up ... well ... literally anyone else. Hayes would've been great with all his Flames connections. Keith Kinkaid went for a 5th round pick. I would've done that trade in a heartbeat. Say Smith's gone next year. Barring us signing someone else, who's our tandem? Rittich and Gillies? Yikes. I don't trust Gillies at that level, and if one of those gets injured who do we call up? I guess that all waits till the offseason.

I'm obviously annoyed we did nothing, I didn't need Stone at his alleged cost, but seeing how much it dropped I wish the Flames would've swooped in. But something. This season has been miraculous and you only get so many chances. Giordano's not going to have a Norris caliber season after age 35 very often, if at all. Will players regress next season? Will Lindholm be this good again?
Despite my annoyance, there's a big bright side here. We are the 2nd best team in the league without Neal doing much, with our goaltending struggles, with the top line cold right now, without our physicality, etc etc etc. Come playoffs, guys will need to step up, but we can do it. I could see Neal, Bennett, Janko, Czarnik, Frolik, guys like that being total studs during the playoffs. We also didn't lose any of our fantastic young d-men, and we have our (albeit late) first round pick. Dube's tearing up the AHL, Valimaki and Stone are coming back, the top line will wake up again. Vegas has a cap hit of $77M and still have 8 UFA/RFAs (including Stone, Karlsson, Nosek, Pirri, and Engelland) next season to sign. San Jose is in even worse, at $79M and 10 UFA/RFAs (Including Pavelski, E. Karlsson, Meier, Labanc, Donskoi, Nyquist, and Dell). Fact is, they won't be able to keep all their good guys. We just really have Tkachuk, Rittich, and Bennett unless Smith says. We've got a young team, while other teams' windows are on the verge of closing, ours is just opening. Get the playoff experience this year, go as far as you can as underdogs. We might even just go all the way. Then build on that for years to come.
 
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Yeah, quite the game. I was listening to the radio yesterday afternoon and they said not to expect the game to be a slow plodding game like the last game against NJ, and not to expect it to be a game for the top line to break out lol.
 
Yup! Johnny was otherworldly in that game. Funny, the Vegas game the 2nd line burst out with 11 points and a Chucky hattrick and we all went nuts. Guess the top line got jealous, cause they came out even harder this game. Can't imagine what the third line's got in plan for Friday! We're basically neck-and-neck with San Jose for the conference lead, just need to win literally 1 or 2 more games than they do. If they get first in the west, their 1st round is a cakewalk, meanwhile we go to the gauntlet vs. Vegas. Then, if we make it out, lucky us. We get San Jose in the 2nd round. I'd much rather us have the easy 1st round, get the confidence going, and let San Jose and Vegas beat each other up over 7 games or whatever.

I'm actually really liking Fantenberg, (or as I like to call him, The Fanten Menace) so far. I don't think many people really knew who he was when we got him, I sure didn't, and lots probably really still don't, but he's solid, especially in the playoffs. Apparently he was really good there for LA. Derek Ryan could absolutely be a dark horse clutch type guy in the playoffs too. You can just see it every night. Really hard worker.
 
Well, it's now down to waiting to see who we play against. Colorado looked like a lock, but there's a reasonable chance it could be Dallas. If Colorado wins their game in hand, they'll only be two points behind the Stars so who knows. The way the Flames have played against the Stars, I'm hoping it's not them.

Anyhow congrats to the Flames on a fantastic regular season!
 
Flames looked good for the most part, other than a few breakdowns they were solid. Smith was amazing. It'll be a tough series as Colorado even though they lost 4-0 still looked pretty good, especially that top line. but I don't think there is such a thing as an easy playoff series in the NHL anymore.
 
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