Flames ready to tangle with less than wily Coyotes
This is, evidently, a tough crowd.
Behind the scenes at the Saddledome, the Calgary Flames’ leading marksman is often being beaked by teammates about, of all things, his shot.
“Yeah, I get that all the time,” Flames centre Sean Monahan said. “Some guys say they don’t know how I score goals. Sometimes they say my shot is a muffin. “Obviously, I think differently.” The stats show differently, too. He’s tops on his squad with 19 tallies so far this season, and with his next strike, the 22-year-old will become the youngest triggerman in Flames franchise history to hit the 100-goal plateau.
What the heck could be wrong with a shot that has already baffled the best backstops on the planet 99 times?
“He’s got a deceiving shot, but it’s an ugly-looking shot. We always bug him about it,” right wing Troy Brouwer said with a grin after Sunday’s late-afternoon practice at the Corral, the Flames’ first skate after their five-day bye in the NHL schedule.
“His stick is this tall,” Brouwer said, his hand just north of his hip to make his point. “And his hands are always together.”
Almost on cue, a couple members of the National Lacrosse League’s Toronto Rock — fresh off an 11-7 victory over the Calgary Roughnecks in a matinee at the Saddledome — mosey by en route to their team bus.
“He looks like a lacrosse player, almost,” Brouwer said. “But obviously it works. He’s scoring every other game right now.”
He’s been scoring at an impressive clip since first arriving at the Saddledome as the sixth-overall selection in the 2013 NHL draft.
Hockey hall of famer Joe Nieuwendyk was the fastest Flames shooter to register 100 lamp-lightings, reaching that milestone at the age of 22 years and 185 days.
Monahan has scored in his past five home dates, and if he can tickle twine in Monday’s matchup with the Arizona Coyotes (7 p.m., Sportsnet West, Sportsnet 960 The Fan), he’d better Nieuwendyk’s mark by two months. In fact, No. 23 needs just one before the end of this season and that sliver of franchise history is all his.
But wait, there’s more. According to Elias Sports Bureau’s research on active NHL marksmen, Monahan is set to become the sixth-youngest to hit triple digits in goals, and it’s star-studded company. Steven Stamkos was still 20 when he buried No. 100, while Sidney Crosby and Jaromir Jagr achieved the feat at 21 and change. Alex Ovechkin and Patrick Kane joined the club at 22 at a wee bit younger than Monahan is.
The Flames’ alternate captain has 293 regular season outings on his resume. Of his 99 goals to date, 18 have been game-winners.
“I think I get a lot of opportunities — that’s where it stems from,” said Monahan, a shoot-first centre who is always pass-happy on the subject of personal achievements. “When you play with good players and get put in the position I’m in … I mean, I’ve played with Johnny (Gaudreau) for two and a half years now, played with (Jiri) Hudler — those are two of the best passers in the game.
“When you’re playing with guys like Gio and Brods (Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie), if you put yourself in good positions, you’re going to get the puck on your tape and more often than not have a good look at the net.”
The shooter, of course, deserves some of the credit.
“(Monahan) has a really good release, just has such a good release, and he doesn’t need a lot of time to get it off,” Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan said. “And the other thing too is he has a real nose for the scoring areas. There are some nights I watch Monny and the puck is following him around and he’s getting shots and quality chances, and he doesn’t need much to get those shots away.
“And that’s a skill. It’s a skill you almost can’t teach.”
Too bad, because the Flames could use a few more guys firing muffins like Monahan’s.
“A hundred is a huge milestone in his career, and hopefully there will be hundreds more to come,” said Brouwer, who is currently skating with Monahan and Gaudreau on Calgary’s top line. “It’s an amazing thing for him to be able to do that so early in his career.”