How Calgary built a winner in 4 years
Core of today’s Flames powerhouse was already in place in the 2015 playoffs against the Canucks
With the Vancouver Canucks in the middle of a playoff race, here’s something else you might not expect to be good, the Monday morning musings and meditations on the world of sports.
■ The Calgary Flames came to town Saturday night with their first-place team and the NHL’s most prolific offence, which is galling enough to the faithful.
But if you’re wondering how the Flames got to this place — and the Canucks are where they are — we refer you to the 2015 playoff series which, if memory serves, marks the last time the Canucks qualified for the post-season.
That year, the Flames’ secondand third-leading scorers were Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan, then in their rookie and second seasons, respectively. Their secondand third-leading scorers on the blue-line were Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie. They received a solid contribution from centre Mikael Backlund in a supporting role and, late in the season, called up Michael Ferland from their AHL-affiliate and first-round draft pick Sam Bennett from junior, who was 18 years old.
Hit the fast-forward button. This season the Flames’ two leading scorers are Gaudreau, who sat fourth in the league ahead of Sunday’s action, and Monahan, who is on pace for 40 goals. Their two leading scorers among defencemen are Giordano, who has over a point a game and should be getting some Norris Trophy votes, and Brodie.
Backlund, meanwhile, centres a dynamic second line; Bennett is no longer 18 but he plays a meaningful role in the bottom six and, this summer, Ferland was flipped to Carolina in a package which brought Elias Lindholm to Calgary.
Lindholm has 61 points this season, as many as Alex Ovechkin and one fewer than Sidney Crosby.
And your point?
Four years ago, the Flames
identified a core group and those players now form the nucleus of a first-place team. It helped that they added Matthew Tkachuk, but somewhere over four drafts they figured to add at least one impact player.
Then there are the Canucks. There are, essentially, three players from their last playoff team still on the roster. Bo Horvat was a rookie that year and Alex Edler and Chris Tanev were on the blue-line.
OK, Sven Baertschi was acquired from the Flames at the 2015 trade deadline and Alex Biega, then as now, was a depth defenceman. But that doesn’t alter our thesis. The last time the locals made the playoffs they had one young building block in place and it has taken them four years to assemble a group around him.
As a result, the Canucks are now more or less in the same position the Flames were four years ago. We can argue about
the decisions which brought them to this place and acknowledge Elias Pettersson has helped them regain some ground. But, by labouring under the illusion they could remain competitive while rebuilding, they set the whole process back years.
■ Wish it would have been under different circumstances last week but it was a rare treat to talk to Jim Robson about the late Andre Boudrias and the Canucks’ early years.
The interview, such as it was, started with this probing question: “Can you tell me about Boudrias?” and the great broadcaster was off, pulling names and dates out of his memory banks with astonishing speed and clarity.
Did you know, for example, Boudrias scored a five-onthree shorty against Chicago on Dec. 26, 1970, which was three days after Bobby Baun wrecked Orland Kurtenbach’s knee in Toronto. And if you
ever have 15 minutes to kill, you can ask Robson about the Canucks’ first playoff appearance in 1975.
Their history hasn’t always been great but the Canucks have a history that predates the Luongo trade. Robson, as much as anyone, is the institutional memory of this franchise.
■ Really nice job by the Hometown Hockey crew in Swift Current this weekend, specifically on Sheldon Kennedy.
There is a long and painful history with Swift Current and Kennedy but to see the former junior star in tears as the new Sheldon Kennedy outdoor rink was opened provided a healing moment for the man and the city. Fear and shame live in the dark but when you shine a light in those places, you can see things more clearly and Kennedy has been shining that light for over 20 years.
■ This weekend also marked the 20th straight year management at this paper has rejected my proposal to write a first-person account from the AT&T Pro-Am at Pebble Beach. I’ve got to be honest with you — I’m beginning to think it might never happen.
■ And finally, if all you knew about Frank Robinson was on the back of his baseball card, you’d understand he was one of the game’s immortals. He’s the only player to win the MVP in both leagues. In 1966 he won the Triple Crown while carrying the Baltimore Orioles to the World Series. He still ranks 10th on the all-time home run list, seventh if you throw out the drug cheats.
But when he became the first African-American to manage in the big leagues, Robinson became something more: a symbol, a pioneer, a vanguard of change. At least that’s the way the story should
have played out. Thirty-four years later, you wonder how much we’ve evolved. That doesn’t diminish Robinson’s career or his impact on the game.
Back in 2004, your agent was dispatched to Seattle to cover the Expos in their last season in Montreal. That year, they played 22 “home games” in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the series in Seattle was in the middle of a 25-game road trip.
Robinson was the manager of that team, an appointment by MLB, who owned the Expos before they moved to Washington, and he knew he was in a no-win situation.
But I remember him in a scrum, proud and defiant, determined to fight for every base, every pitch.
He had, after all, faced tougher battles in his life.