Calgary Flames: Three stars of the 2017-18 season

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LAS VEGAS, NV – FEBRUARY 21: Dougie Hamilton #27 celebrates a goal scored by Matthew Tkachuk #19 with his teammates Johnny Gaudreau #13, Mark Giordano #5, and Sean Monahan #23 of the Calgary Flames against the Vegas Golden Knights during the game at T-Mobile Arena on February 21, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/NHLI via Getty Images) /

With the Calgary Flames season ending sooner than expected, there were still some players who stood out all season long. Let’s check them out.

The Calgary Flames had an unexpectedly shortened season. Being projected at one of the top teams in the league, their season, unfortunately, ended much too soon. They were doing decently throughout the season and nobody quite thought that they wouldn’t end up making it, especially since they game up a lot of assets to get here.

But then the bye-week came and everything sort of went downhill from there. There were some injuries, a big one happening to Mike Smith. David Rittich and Jon Gillies couldn’t man the crease, and when Smith did return, he wasn’t what he was in the first half of the season. This whole season was somewhat of a bust and it’s quite unfortunate that the Flames won’t even have a draft pick until the third round.

However, it was let known that GM Brad Treliving did let the other GMs know at their GM meeting that he may be looking to trade for a first-round pick. And with the firings of head coach Glen Gulutzan and two assistant coaches the other day, he’s making moves quickly it seems.

All this being said, even though this season was somewhat of a bust, some players stood out more than others. To be honest, Mike Smith would have potentially made this list if the season ended at the end of January. But it didn’t.

Let’s check out the three stars of the year.

Honorary Mention: All of you

The fans definitely deserve an honourable mention here, especially if you’re one of the people who watched almost all 82 games. Nearing the end of the season, it seemed like many people didn’t tune into the games and I was basically live-tweeting to nobody. Don’t worry, I’m not judging you for not watching. I would have done the same if I didn’t need to.

But we all stuck through some occasional weird lineup decisions, frustrating powerplays, losing 8-2 and 6-0, and Dougie Hamilton not getting the love and respect he deserves. And for that, I commend all of us.

OTTAWA, ON – MARCH 09 2018: (Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Third Star: Matthew Tkachuk

Sophomore slump who?

The Calgary Flames pest has been making his name known around the league. Albeit, not for great reasons, but it’s fun having every player hate him. Now I know how Boston Bruins fans feel about Brad Marchand.

This season, Matthew Tkachuk had career highs in goals (24) and points (49) while still playing eight fewer games than he did last season. He was also third in team scoring and tied for second with Johnny Gaudreau for his goals, but played in two fewer games than Gaudreau. He’s really established himself as a dependable two-way player being on that 3M line who also isn’t afraid to get into scrums. Basically almost exactly like his dad.

But even when he doesn’t get points, it’s clear that he battles hard every game.

I don’t think I can even think about one game this season where he had an off-game. There are star players who are important to the team, like Johnny Gaudreau and Mark Giordano, who can sometimes have an off-game. But I can’t recall the same for Tkachuk.

He battles hard every game and has such good hockey IQ. He goes to the net when he needs to, he always knows where to be on the ice, and he’s great at finding the puck in the air. Place Tkachuk in front of the net and he’ll deflect those pucks in for you.

This season, he was a pivotal player on the powerplay, leading the team in PP goals with 10. In just his second season with the Calgary Flames, it’s already quite clear that he’s an important piece in the Flames’ future. Some people want him to have an ‘A’ on his jersey already for the way he battles every game.

For all these reasons, he gets our third star of the season.

Second Star: Dougie Hamilton

The only two people I trust in this world are Mikael Backlund and Dougie Hamilton.

Dougie Hamilton this season was fifth in Calgary Flames scoring with 44 points in 82 games and tied for first among defencemen for goals with 17, which was also a career high for him. Even though he was tied for first among defencemen, it feels like he doesn’t quite get mentioned often when looking at the top defencemen in the league.

Not only were his points impressive, but so were his attempts. Every season with the Flames so far, Dougie has been improving in terms of puck-possession. He had quite a few missed shots this season along with a few posts, but he was second among all skaters with 1707 shot attempts (5v5). Brent Burns, who was first with 1770, played over 100 minutes more than Dougie did at even-strength. His CF% at 57.55 was fourth in the league (Giordano was first and Tkachuk was fifth in the league).

While it took about 51 games for the Flames coaching staff to finally realize that Dougie Hamilton was their best offensive defenceman and to finally put him on the first PP unit, their powerplay somewhat momentarily took off.

For all of these reasons and for the fact that nobody ever talks about him, he’ll always be a star in our hearts.

BUFFALO, NY – MARCH 7 2018: (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images) /

First Star: Johnny Gaudreau

Ah, the lovely Johnny Gaudreau. He had a few bumps in the road this season with hitting some small slumps, but he still killed it this season and had his best season yet. Johnny had 84 points in 80 games which is his first time in a season averaging over 1 point/GP. He reached 60 assists which is the first time a Calgary Flames player has reached that mark since 1993 when Theo Fleury had 66 assists.

For a while, especially in the first half of the season, Gaudreau was always second or third in NHL scoring and seemed like he was a legitimate candidate for the Art Ross. But like I mentioned, he had a few minor bumps in the road along the wide.

Add on the fact that his linemate and the player he has the best chemistry with on the team, Sean Monahan, was injured and basically playing with one hand for 35 games and didn’t play up to his full potential, it’s understandable why Gaudreau didn’t get more points. For a bit, he was even projected at obtaining 100 points. I mean, Jaromir Jagr seems to think that he could do it every season.

Gaudreau led the Flames this season in assists and points. He was seventh in the league for assists and finished in 16th place for points. Don’t worry Flames fans, that’s not all for Johnny this year. You can catch him at the World Championship in May!

Next: Johnny Gaudreau to play for Team USA at Worlds

Number 13 on the ice, number one in our hearts.

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