Calgary Flames Daily: Post-game win, Hamilton bros separating
By Ramina Shlah
It’s a cold day in Calgary, but moods are still high after that overtime win against the Pittsburgh Penguins last night. Let’s check out some more Calgary Flames news.
That win last night was exciting. Not only have the Calgary Flames won two in a row on home-ice (they were 1-4-0 at home before these last two wins), but they did it while beating the defending back-to-back Stanley Cup champs, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Not only did they beat them, but this is the Flames fifth win in a row against the defending champs. The last three wins have gone to extra time as well. Last season, they were both shootout wins.
Flames netminder, Mike Smith, had one of his best games all season. He stopped 43 of 44 shots last night and was a big reason the Flames walked away with those two points. Some teammates are starting to compare him to one of the best goaltenders in Flames franchise history who has the most amount of wins and the best save-percentage in franchise history, Miikka Kiprusoff.
Related Story: Flames win fifth straight against defending champs
Via Calgaryflames.com:
"“Kipper-worthy?” marvelled the captain. “Yeah, I’d say so. And that’s high praise. The highest.“If you look at the quality of their chances, the saves he made tonight … that’s a good team, a championship team, armed with some of the best players in the world, playing at their best, I thought.“Deflections, breakaways, one-timers … that’s a goalie win, for sure.“He’s been our best player this year. It’s not even close. ”“It was one of the best goalie performances I’ve seen in a long time,” lauded Flames’ coach Glen Gulutzan. “It gives you gives you confidence going into any building, when you know you have a goalie like that.“Sitting on the bench, I always think ‘comfort’ is the wrong word, but there is a sense of assurance that you’ve got a guy in there that is battling every night and is one of the league’s best goalies and that’s a big thing.“As the game went on, too, the way we came back for Smitty, is the big thing for our team. In the second and third, we showed him that we can play with the NHL’s top team and there’s no argument about it.”"
On a not-so-high note, Freddie Hamilton was waived Tuesday morning and yesterday, he cleared. While he’s still up with the team, he’ll most likely be getting sent down to the AHL when Jaromir Jagr returns. Unfortunately for Dougie Hamilton, that means he’ll be split up from his brother for a little bit.
Dougie was initially traded to the Calgary Flames in 2015 for a good deal because he wanted to play in the same organization as his brother and the Boston Bruins wouldn’t trade for Freddie. So in a deal with the Flames, they acquired Freddie. And while Freddie could play in Stockton, at least they’ll be part of the same organization.
There’s a familiar name in the Calgary Flames organization: Sutter. And Rich Sutter knows what these guys are going through. I mean, he did only have five brothers who played in the NHL too.
Via Calgary Sun:
"Having played several of his 14 season in the NHL alongside his twin, Ron, and older brother Brent, Sutter is well-versed in the perils and heartache that come with the comfort and excitement of playing in the NHL alongside a sibling.“In my second year in Philadelphia, Mike Keenan told Ronnie, ‘if you don’t pick it up your brother is sitting out next time, not you,’” chuckled Sutter, now a Flames analyst with Sportsnet.“Ronnie came out of the meeting and said, ‘you’re not going to believe what I just got told.’ After he told me, I said, ‘I guess you know what you better be doing tomorrow.’”“I cherish those times (when playing with a brother) – you never know how long it will last,” said Sutter.“I know what he’s going through. I’m sure it’s hard for him.“I feel for him, but this is business. This is how the world turns. We’re all big boys playing a big boys’ game.”"
Some links surrounding the Flames
Flames thoughts: Mike Smith continues to be Flames’ MVP (Sportsnet).
Facing Crosby always good test for young Flames players (Calgary Sun).
AHL star Mangiapane could help Flames secondary scoring woes (Calgary Sun).
Rich Sutter knows what Flames’ Hamilton brothers are going through (Calgary Sun).
Some links surrounding hockey and the NHL
NHL still trying to figure out sweater ads (FanSided).
Carey Price’s massive struggles highlight four surprising NHL stats (Sportsnet).
How NHL team playoff hopes start to die in November (Sportsnet).
Top 10 intriguing NHL storylines one month into season (NHL.com).
Next: Who each Flame would be in a horror movie
That’s all in today’s Flames Daily!