Calgary Flames: Three Teams Who Will Cause the Most Trouble
With a new season approaching and new faces in some rival teams, let’s look at who will cause the most trouble for the Calgary Flames this upcoming season.
Pre-season starts later this month and the regular season starts up again in about a month! I still feel like it was yesterday when the Calgary Flames were swept in the playoffs and we were all waiting for hockey to come back again.
But with a new season rapidly approaching, we’ll see some new faces in a flaming C jersey. And some new faces on their rival teams as well. Right now, Flames management (and other analysts alike) think that the Flames could be ready for Cup contention now. And with the Flames not having any draft picks next year until the fourth round, let’s hope this is true.
That being said, there are quite a few things that make this team ready for contention. To be fair, they weren’t that far off last season. but a couple of changes here and there, and they look stacked. They upgraded their blue-line with the addition of Travis Hamonic and the re-signing of Michael Stone. They have two new fresh faces in the crease with the addition of Mike Smith and Eddie Lack. And they managed to re-sign Kris Versteeg at an awesome price while also signing NCAA free-agent, Spencer Foo, helping to fix their depth problem with the RW.
Related Story: What Make the Flames a Contending Team?
Of course we’re still waiting on that Sam Bennett re-signing, but I’m confident that’ll be done (hopefully) within the next week.
But all that being said, being ready for Cup contention isn’t easy. You’ve got to get through the nitty-gritty first. The Flames will need to battle some foes during the season and prove that they can be successful in the playoffs this time and prove they’re ready for Cup contention.
Like I said, they’ll have to battle some foes first. And some may be a little harder to battle than others. Let’s take a look at the three teams who will cause the Calgary Flames the most amount of trouble this season (I’m sure you can guess who the top will be).
Number Three: Nashville Predators
While the Nashville Predators have never quite been the biggest threat to the Calgary Flames (or to any team really), people need to stop underestimating them now. Making the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in franchise history and giving the defending champs a run for their money? Yeah, I’d say they’re a top team in the league.
Their top-four is arguably one of the best in the league and the Flames will definitely have some competition in that area. Like I mentioned earlier, the Flames added Travis Hamonic to that top-four this off-season to really solidify that area.
However, the Preds have the likes of Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis, Mattias Ekholm, and P.K. Subban for their top-four, giving the Flames a run for their money. But, the Flames also added Michael Stone as that fifth defenceman. And when Stone first came to the Flames line-up, they had a ten-game win-streak. But we don’t quite know if we can fully attribute that to Stone, or if anything was just basically better than Dennis Wideman.
Related Story: Five Reasons the Flames' Season Turned Around
Last season, the Preds and the Flames met three times. The Preds won two of those games while the Flames won one. However in that Flames win, they had a 4-1 lead and blew it which led to overtime where the Flames won 6-5.
The Flames and Preds meet again three times this upcoming season, and with the Flames aiming to get 100 points, these games could very well be what causes them to go over/under that 100-point mark.
The Preds are projected at earning 102 points and the Flames are projected at earning 97 points:
The results of the standings survey are in. Here's how respondents see the 2017-18 season shaking out: https://t.co/RPed4IF0Ry pic.twitter.com/CWgjpMgRPg
— dom 📈 (@domluszczyszyn) August 30, 2017
If the Flames can give the Preds a run for their money, they could potentially hit that 100-point mark.
Number Two: Edmonton Oilers
This may have somewhat been an obvious choice. But the Battle of Alberta has started to somewhat revive and this upcoming season, it could be in full force.
This past season, the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames met each other four times. And the Oilers won all four meetings. Just this series alone, the Oilers walked away with eight points while the Flames walked away with just one. While the Oilers were ahead of the Flames by nine points, they only had two more wins than them. If the Flames performed better during their season series against the Oilers, the playoffs could have looked much different.
This season, they’ll be seeing each other five times. The Flames absolutely cannot let them win the entire series again. If the team is aiming for 100 points, this series could be the reason they don’t hit that mark if they have a repeat of last year. And for the first time since 1991, we could be seeing a Battle of Alberta in the playoffs.
Next: Roundtable: Predicting Where the Flames Finish this Season
The last BoA was in 1990-91 in the first round (the Oilers won 4-3 in that series). With new contracts to Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the Flames need to watch for those two. They’ll also need to find ways to get past Cam Talbot, who had 42 wins last season, which was tied for the most among all goaltenders.
Luckily for the Flames, Mike Smith seems like he can hold his own against the Oilers.
Why did the Flames acquire Mike Smith? We may have a theory pic.twitter.com/KuD7Nip1tu
— FlamesNation (@FlamesNation) September 2, 2017
If he can back up his team and not let the Oilers score seven goals (like they did TWICE against the Flames last season), this series could be the determining factor if the Flames reach that 100-point mark.
Number One: Anaheim Ducks
We all knew this would be #1. I don’t want to talk about it and you don’t want to hear me talk about it. The Anaheim Ducks have been the worst thing to happen to the Calgary Flames.
Last season, these two teams saw each other five times, not including playoffs. I mean, we don’t have to talk about playoffs… we’ve all already forgotten about it.. right? Right.
Last season, the Ducks won four of the meetings. While the Flames just won one but boy that was a fun game (the Flames scored five goals in six minutes).
Last season the Flames were behind the Ducks by only one win at the end of the regular season. However, the Ducks had 11 points on them and the Flames and Ducks met each other in the first round. Again, we don’t have to talk about playoffs. It’s fine.
This season, the Flames and Ducks will meet just three times. But twice in Anaheim (oh no). I’m not here to talk about the teams or how the Ducks have the Flames beat or what players to watch out for. I’m here to talk about the stupid Honda Center Curse.
Related Story: The Decade Long Curse of the Honda Center
The Flames have 25 consecutive regular season losses at the Honda Center dating back to 2004. This is an NHL record. By two losses. They broke the record last year. I don’t know what this dumb curse is but it needs to leave the Flames alone. And ok FINE we’ll talk about the playoffs. But the Flames were also swept by the Ducks in the playoffs.
There, HAPPY? I said it, let’s move on.
However luckily, there may be another reason the Flames picked up Mike Smith.
In his last four starts in the Honda Center, Mike Smith is 2-1-1 with a 1.69 GAA and .950 SV%.
— Darren Haynes (@DarrenWHaynes) June 18, 2017
Now that's what I call a deal clincher.
Please Mike Smith. Help them beat this curse.
Next: Throwback Thursday - Winning 13-1 Against the Sharks
The series between all three of these teams will matter. In total, the Flames have 11 games against these teams. Even just around the halfway mark of wins, six wins in those 11 could be what separate the Calgary Flames from hitting 100 points or barely making a wildcard spot.
If the Flames want to succeed this season, these three teams will be the biggest challenges.