Good afternoon Calgary Flames fans! It’s finally game day again! The Flames will face off against the Arizona Coyotes tonight for the first time in six days.
It’s game day! Boy, it’s been a while since I’ve been able to say that. I mean, it’s only been six days, but it feels like a while. The Calgary Flames will be playing again after coming off of their bye-week, which is a mandatory five day break the NHL implemented this season because of the World Cup and the rigorous schedule.
The Flames will play against the Arizona Coyotes tonight for the fourth time this season. The Flames have won all three matchups so far, their latest in a New Years Eve showdown, where they won 4-2.
Sean Monahan will be a fun player to watch tonight, seeing how he’s one goal away from 100 career goals and he’s been coming close ever since his 99th goal.
Now, asking all the players if they paid attention to the standings, most of them said no. And rightfully so. They wanted this week to relax and not stress about their position in the standings. So that includes not even thinking about hockey.
Calgary Flames
"“You peek at (the standings),” Troy Brouwer said. “It’s also a good mental escape to not think about hockey too much. You know for the next two months straight, you’ll be playing every other night and looking at the scoreboard three times a day.“It’s hockey, hockey, hockey.”"
Head coach Glen Gulutzan also didn’t check the standings a whole lot, but he had a bit of a different reason why.
"“I watched a couple of the games,” Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan said. “But I resisted temptation to do that because I really feel like if you add 20 or 25 points to all of us and then let’s go play the last 10, it’s going to come down to the end. It always does.”"
Some links surrounding the Flames to get you through your day
Game Day: Arizona Coyotes at Calgary Flames (Calgary Herald).
Flames back to chasing wild-card spot after break (Calgary Sun).
How does Tkachuk stack up? (The Hockey Writers).
Arizona Coyotes are back on the road and head to Canada to face the Calgary Flames (Five for Howling).
Some other links surrounding hockey and the NHL
Rested or Rusty? NHL’s 5-day breaks not paying off for everyone (CBC Sports).
Olympic hockey teams will look to amateurs, Europe if the NHL backs out (The Globe and Mail).
5 things we learned in the NHL last week: Don’t quit your day job (CBC Sports).
Sunday fight night in the NHL: Ref gets loud, Burrows gets crushed (CBC Sports).
Next: Potential Playoff Scenario - Facing the Minnesota Wild
That’s all in this edition of Flames Daily! Let’s hope the Flames don’t lose their spark they had before the break started.