Flames’ Hiller gets shot at redemption against Ducks
When Jonas Hiller signed a two-year deal with the Calgary Flames last summer, it represented a fresh start and a new beginning.
Sometime during the 2013-14 National Hockey League season, the 33-year-old netminder had lost the faith of Anaheim Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau and was eventually phased out in favour of two youngsters — Frederik Andersen and John Gibson. Understandably frustrated, it prompted him to test free agency and the chance to compete for a No. 1 job.
It’s funny how life works out sometimes.
Fast-forward to Saturday night and minutes after the Calgary Flames eliminated the Vancouver Canucks in the first-round of the NHL post-season, local scribes were asking about Hiller facing his old team in the second round of playoffs — as a No. 1 netminder.
“Yeah, it’s definitely special,” Hiller said with a grin. “It hasn’t really settled in. You kind of look ahead but you don’t want to believe it until it’s actually there. Now, it’s like we’re just excited to be in the next round. In the next few days, we’ll look at their tendencies and everything. It’s definitely going to be special.”
Brian Burke, now the brain trust of the Calgary Flames, had picked up Hiller in 2007 and there, the lanky puckstopper put together a career line of 162-110-32 with a 2.51 goals against average and a .916 save percentage.
His real coming-of-age moment was during the 2009 playoffs where he and the Ducks took the Detroit Red Wings to seven games in the second round. But that, now, is all in the past. “I spent seven years there,” Hiller said. “I know so many people there. The team has changed a lot since last year. But still, just to be in that building which was home for me for so long, it’s definitely going to be special.
“You want nothing more than to beat that team and prove they made a mistake not re-signing you.”
And it also makes him a bit of a resident expert on the Ducks, the same group that impressively beat down the persistent Winnipeg Jets in a first-round sweep.
“They definitely have some skills, some size,” Hiller said.
“They play pretty consistent to their system. There was a reason they were first in the conference. I think with our speed, we have a chance.
“We’ve gotta be ready to play even better than the Vancouver series.”
Hiller was pulled in Saturday’s 7-4 win at the Scotiabank Saddledome after allowing two goals on three shots.
The goalie, however, was not completely to blame and Flames head coach Bob Hartley admitted after the game that putting in Karri Ramo had been more so about a change — period.
The Flames had been down 3-1 at the end of first period and behind 4-3 at the end of the second before making a third-period comeback.
“I didn’t pull him because I thought it was his fault,” Hartley said. “I just felt it wasn’t a good start for us … sometimes, just changing the goalie changes the pace of the game. It kind of creates a reaction on the players. “Our players answered back.” Hiller started all six games of the first-round series, finishing with a 3-2 record and a .931 save percentage and 2.20 goals against average. He’d also been spectacular in Calgary’s 2-1 loss in Game 5, stopping 41 of 43 shots at Rogers Arena.
Which is exactly the type of goaltending the Flames will need from the veteran in the Honda Center, where Calgary has not won in 20 regular season tries.
They did, however, win one game during the first round of the 2006 playoffs — a 5-2 win in Game 3.
Other than that, for whatever reason, they just can’t seem to get the job done.
“I don’t know (why),” Hiller said. “It seems like they play a puck possession game where we almost spend too much time in our zone. Somehow they find a way to score.”
But, Hiller said, the post-season is a different story.
“All those regular season losses don’t count anymore and we start from scratch,” he said. “We want to play our best hockey and hopefully win some games down there.”