Flames stay focused on job at hand against Oilers
As stakes get higher, players only look as far as next game
The pressure is going to be wild.
The noise from outside the Scotiabank Saddledome will undoubtedly make its way into the Flames locker-room. The intensity of their rivalry with the Edmonton Oilers runs too hot for the Flames to block it all out.
And even among the Flames, there's debate about how you navigate all that.
Riding the inevitable emotional highs and lows of a potential seven-game series against your most hated rival has its pros and cons.
To block the outside noise out or to let it in? That's the big question.
“I think you do (have to block it out),” said Flames forward Milan Lucic. “To make sure your emotions don't get the best of you, so you're just focusing on what you need to do to win hockey games.”
It's not as if pressure in the playoffs is anything new for the Flames. Considering the historic importance of actually breaking through and winning a playoff series, their first-round matchup with the Dallas Stars had an almost outsized burden attached to it, too. If you don't think there was pressure in overtime in Sunday's Game 7 against the Stars, you need to give your head a serious shake.
But this is the Battle of Alberta. The media spotlight will burn bright. They'll be the talk of two towns, or cities, we should say. They'll be the talk of a lot more towns. Winning fans will brag about this series for decades. Losing fans will want to pretend it never happened.
There's a lot of pressure that comes along with it all and that can be a good or bad thing.
Channel the emotions that come with the high stakes into something positive and constructive, and that can only be a good thing.
“Pressure is good, isn't it? The greatest countries, the greatest leaders, it's not just sports,” said Flames head coach Darryl Sutter. “The people who handle pressure the best are the top of everything they do.”
Managing the emotions that come with this series is going to be paramount for the Flames and the Oilers, though. Emotions running high can cause players to take stupid penalties or just generally take them out of their game.
Even for players like Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom, who is unlikely to get in a ton of on-ice shenanigans, there's a need to block out most of the provincewide excitement. There will be 20,000 people in the stands going wild, 5,000 more losing their minds in the Red Lot and countless others cheering on the Flames in every corner of the city.
On Tuesday morning, it seemed like half the city was partying on Twitter when it was reported that Chris Tanev was participating in Flames practice after missing Sunday's game.
That's fun and all, but the Flames do need to keep their sights on the job at hand.
“Obviously, it's big for the province and all that but I think our focus is Game 1, it's a really important game, to just get ready,” Markstrom said. “All the noise and all the media and all that stuff, you've got to block it out and just prepare for the game.
“It's a hockey game, we've played a bunch of them this year. It's going to be fun, it's going to be wild in the crowd but on the ice we're going to be composed and play our game.”
So there doesn't seem to be a complete consensus on the best way for the Flames to handle the external pressures that are going to come with this Battle of Alberta.
Embracing the moment is a good thing. Getting caught up in the highs and lows is a bad thing.
Navigating it all is going to be pivotal against the Oilers.
Lucic, who has experience in heated rivalries from his time with the Boston Bruins and their series against the Montreal Canadiens, knows that more than most.
He's also spent time on both sides of the Battle of Alberta rivalry.
“I think you have to enjoy it,” Lucic said. “You just take it in, enjoy it all and stay in the moment and then just add it to the list of things I've been fortunate enough to experience in my hockey career. Like I said, it's about staying in the moment and about going out there and making it a good experience.”