Bollig brings Cup history to Flames
Veteran won with Chicago in 2013, ready to mentor younger players
Brandon Bollig has gone from a team with loads of Stanley Cup experience and huge expectations come playoff time, to a club loaded with young guys dipping their toes into the National Hockey League playoffs for the first time.
The big left winger has gone from the star- studded Chicago Blackhawks, with whom he won the Cup in the spring of 2013, to the Calgary Flames, who scratched and clawed to get into the post- season to surprise plenty of doubters.
“There’s plenty of differences,” said the 27- year- old. “Obviously with Chicago every year you knew you were going to make the playoffs. There wasn’t that grind every year that we had here in Calgary.
“The last 20 games have been playoff games and do or die for us.”
Bollig brought 24 games of playoff experience to the Flames when he was acquired in a 2014 draft- day trade. Fifteen of those came just last spring when the Blackhawks went to Game 7 of the Western Conference final before losing to eventual Cup winner Los Angeles.
“Our team has a completely different makeup ( than the Blackhawks) and obviously we’ve made that work this year,” he said. “We’ve been deemed one of the hardest working teams in the league and that’s precisely why we’ve had the success we’ve had.
“Now that you accomplished one goal of making the post- season you obviously re- evaluate those goals.”
Asked to compare the two teams, Bollig spoke of each having plenty of leadership while admitting the obvious — experience.
“There’s no secret that there’s not much playoff experience here and playoff experience is huge and that’s what we’re trying to create here,” he said.
Another veteran, defenceman Dennis Wideman, believes the Flames enter the playoffs having already gotten plenty of exposure to pressure situations. “We have a lot of rookies on our team this year but coming down the stretch every game mattered and they picked their game up,” he said.
“There were some games last week that if we lost those games we wouldn’t be here. That little bit went a long way to showing them what we can expect going forward.”
Prior to Wednesday’s game, Wideman brought 44 games of playoff experience to the table. Only Jiri Hudler, with 66, and Mason Raymond, with 55, have more on the current Flames roster. Bollig comes right after Wideman.
Bollig can speak to how much the game changes come playoff time.
“Most people in hockey know how different of a game it is and how much more ramped up it is and that every little mistake is magnified,” he said.
“It’s definitely a good feeling knowing that I’ve been there, but in the playoffs you have to have a short memory because every year and every series is different.”
The Cup- winning Blackhawks featured some of the game’s biggest stars, including Jonathan Toews, and Patrick Kane, both barely in their 20s when they led Chicago to a title in 2010.
Now Bollig’s on a team that relies heavily on a couple of youngsters, Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau.
“They’ve been a huge part of our success, everyone knows that,” he said. “I don’t think they have a bunch of weight on their shoulders. Yeah, we’re expecting everyone to play how they played all year — play hard — and take it from there.”