Calgary Herald

Canadian clubs a welcome storyline

- SCOTT STINSON

This was not supposed to be a great year to be a Canadian hockey fan.

Unless you live in Montreal or are part of the vast diaspora of Canadiens fans, there were far more reasons to be bleak than to expect great things. Outside the Canadiens, the country’s other six franchises were in various stages of rebuild, and even a cherished institutio­n like Hockey Night in Canada had been overtaken by marauders led by a young fellow who wore earring( s) and no tie. Was nothing sacred?

Six months later, it has been the greatest stretch of Canadian hockey in recent memory. In the span of a truly insane couple of hours on Tuesday night, the Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets both took huge steps toward playoff berths with one- goal wins that were followed by the Edmonton Oilers beating the defendingc­hampion, chasing- aplayoffsp­ot Los Angeles Kings in what felt like — and this isn’t intended as a shot at Edmonton — the biggest Oilers win in close to a decade.

Meanwhile, the Ottawa Senators, down 3- 0 at home to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a game that was about to snuff out their highly improbable playoff drive, managed to come all the way back, scoring the tying goal with less than two minutes left and then winning the game in overtime on a Mark Stone goal that was almost a formality given how much momentum had swung in Ottawa’s favour.

The game was a microcosm of the Senators’ season: terrible, terrible, hey not so bad, wait is this really happening, OH MY GOD WILL THIS WONDER NEVER END.

Even in Edmonton and Toronto, the two Canadian teams that have had awful seasons, they have managed to be consistent­ly bad enough so as to remain near the bottom of the league, in line for a good pick in a loaded draft and with a decent chance of grabbing a likely superstar if the lottery breaks their way.

Toronto’s transforma­tion has been particular­ly impressive in this regard: they went from inside the playoff bubble as the calendar turned to 2015 to straight down to the depths.

In a league where it does not pay to be mediocre, the secondhalf Leafs have done a remarkable impression of the Sabres.

But it is the playoff- chasing teams that have been the most fun. Montreal is about what was expected: good enough to beat anyone, but heavily reliant on the fact that goaltender Carey Price is possibly a Jedi.

Vancouver, coming off a management houseclean­ing, has been a surprise in the strong West, with the Sedins still practising their wonderful telepathy. Seriously: go find the video of the Henrik- to- Daniel pass on the game- tying goal on Monday night and enjoy the sorcery.

The Calgary Flames should have turned back into pumpkins by now, but they have a chance to clinch a spot in the playoffs with a win over Los Angeles on Thursday night. They made what should have been an easy home win over Arizona far too interestin­g on Tuesday, particular­ly when goalie Jonas Hiller decided to wander halfway to Red Deer and allowed the Coyotes to tie the game into his empty net in the third period. But a Flames goal two minutes later sealed it. This is not a team that scares easily.

In Winnipeg, all the Jets have done is win games at Minnesota and St. Louis with back- to- back shutouts and defenceman Dustin Byfuglien suspended. Tuesday’s lunacy included a disallowed Blues goal, with the Blues’ Paul Stastny penalized for slashing the stick out of the hands of Jets defenceman Tyler Myers right before Stastny took a pass and scored. After the Jets’ 1- 0 win, their fans turned to the OilersKing­s game, in which Edmonton scored to go up 3- 1 in the third over Los Angeles, which is chasing Winnipeg for a playoff spot, only to see backup goalie Richard Bachman whiff on a Drew Doughty shot from beyond the red line. Despite that disaster, the Oilers managed to win, which is something they do not do often, pushing the Kings to three points out of a playoff spot.

And in Ottawa, in the unlikelies­t stretch of all, scoring four unanswered goals against one of the stronger teams in the East ( maybe?) ends up being just another day in a wild run. It’s a good thing Ottawa’s fans aren’t throwing the obvious thing on the ice in honour of rookie hero Mark Stone.

The Senators still aren’t inside a playoff spot, and need help to get there, but even if they don’t make it, the last two months have not been for naught. They have been sparked by a goalie, Andrew Hammond, who is such a journeyman that he would be too much of a cliche if the story was fictional. Six of the last seven games have gone to overtime. It has been thrilling, improbable madness.

It is also, whatever the eventual result, why we watch in the first place.

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 ?? FRANK GUNN/ THE CANADIAN PRESS ?? Toronto will get a good draft pick.
FRANK GUNN/ THE CANADIAN PRESS Toronto will get a good draft pick.

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