CALGARY — Blake Coleman smiled while summing up the mayhem that opened the Calgary Flames’ season in Vancouver.
“It’s just one of those, ‘holy crap, what happened?’ games,” reflected the Flames winger of a 6-5 overtime win against the Vancouver Canucks that saw the Flames claw back from a 3-0 deficit.
“And it definitely set the tone for the year.”
For both clubs.
One team has gone on to be one of the league’s most pleasant surprises, earning increased love and respect from a fan base that marvels in the team’s unity and work ethic.
The other has been one of the league’s biggest tire fires, dragging itself through the mud with infighting and endless distractions that infuriated fans and saw management trade the wrong star.
Yet, five months later, here they are at the same spot, separated by just one point for the Western Conference’s final wild-card berth, held by the Flames.
And with the teams set for a Saddledome showdown Wednesday, one has to wonder just how much opening night had to do with setting the teams off on such different paths.
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“Every year the first few games you’re like, ‘who are we, what are we,’” said Coleman, whose team heard all about the low expectations heading into the season.
“We were down 4-1 in the second and if you get blown out that game and have no pushback you’re probably not feeling very good about yourself and our group, especially with all the noise.
“It showed what resilience we have. It gave us the confidence to, one, come back in games and, two, guys are never going to quit.
“I think that shows a lot about your team.”
The evening opened with a J.T. Miller blast on Kevin Rooney that knocked the Flames centre out, prompting raucous chants for their beloved forward as medical staff attended the motionless Flame.
The Canucks built a 3-0 lead in the first before Anthony Mantha fought Miller and subsequently scored in a game that soon flipped from a 4-1 Canucks lead to a shocking 5-4 Flames advantage.
Ultimately settled in overtime with a Connor Zary beauty, the game couldn’t have served as a more powerful motivator for a Flames club picked by many to miss the playoffs.
“That first game was pretty crazy,” said Jonathan Huberdeau, who kickstarted his turnaround season with an opening-night goal.
“Hell of a comeback by us. Every day since has been just a grind and tomorrow will be the same thing.”
With 19 games left, and the Flames clinging to a one-point advantage over Vancouver and St. Louis for the final playoff spot, there’s a playoff feel only heightened by the age-old rivalry between the two.
On the heels of an arduous, six-game road trip and 1-0 win in their return Saturday, the Flames enter the game loose, thanks to three days off between games.
The Canucks come with more drama and baggage than a bachelorette party.
“Not every game right now is do-or-die — we don’t need to be gripping our sticks or anything like that,” said MacKenzie Weegar.
“We’re just having fun.”
The Canucks sure seem to be the team fun forgot, as the injuries and turmoil around the team mount, with Thatcher Demko and captain Quinn Hughes both out.
Even the bulk of their fan base is repulsed by what’s going on in Vancouver.
“We have to take advantage of it,” said Weegar, who planned to watch the Canucks host Montreal Tuesday night before they jet into Calgary.
“They’re coming in on a back-to-back, and three in four.
“The atmosphere is going to be great. The fan base knows what’s at stake.”
A national audience will see first-hand how much the teams don’t like each other, as evidenced by the New Year’s Eve game in which there were three fights and a whole lot of bad blood in a 3-1 Flames win.
“There’s a lot on the line for both of us,” said Coleman.
“You’ve got to knock somebody out to get in and we’ve always known on some level that Vancouver was one of the teams we knew we could push to get in.
“Now they’re in a pretty similar spot.”
If only in the standings, where it matters most.
