The Calgary Flames have by no means been an elite team through the first month of the 2024-25 season, but they’ve been pretty darn good compared to what was expected. After parting ways with some of their best talent late last season, most believed this team would be in the running for the first-overall pick. Instead, they are sitting in a wild-card position.
It’s a long season, and there is a chance the Flames begin to regress moving forward. Many still believe that will happen, though those who have watched this team on a nightly basis in the early going will tell you that may not be the case due to the relentless style they play with every game. With that said, here are the three main reasons they’ve had success to this point.
Huska Has Players Buying In
As mentioned, there was almost no one that had any sort of positive expectations for the Flames this season. Whether it was fans or media, they were projected to finish near the bottom of the standings. Everyone in their locker room heard it, as they were asked about it plenty throughout training camp.
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Though he’s never admitted it publicly, it appears as though head coach Ryan Huska used this as motivation for his group, instilling an “us against the world” type mentality. That’s evident in the way they play, as they are extremely resilient and give their best effort each and every night.
What Huska has also done is make guys accountable. Whether it’s benching Martin Pospisil for bad penalties, or telling reporters that Andrei Kuzmenko needs to be better, he isn’t afraid of letting guys know when they haven’t been good enough, regardless of who they are. That goes a long way with teams, as it shows there is no preferential treatment.
Goaltending Has Been Exceptional
Arguably the biggest area of concern for this Flames team entering the 2024-25 season was whether or not they would get saves. After all, they had just shipped out not only their number-one goalie, but also one of the best goalies in the league in Jacob Markstrom this summer. Based mainly on inexperience, it was hard to have much confidence in a tandem of Dan Vladar and Dustin Wolf.
Vladar and Wolf have split the crease evenly this season, and have nearly identical stats. Vladar owns a 2.71 goals-against average (GAA) and a .907 save percentage (SV%), while Wolf owns a higher 3.10 GAA but a very similar .906 SV%. Neither of those stat lines look great, but they don’t tell the full story.
Fans who have been watching early on will tell you just how much these two have kept the Flames in games. Playing behind an inexperienced blue line, they have had to be at their best, as they tend to face a number of high-quality scoring chances on a nightly basis. They’ve been a pleasant surprise this season, and will hopefully be able to continue this play moving forward.
Andersson Playing His Best Hockey
The Flames knew that Rasmus Andersson and MacKenzie Weegar would have to play great hockey in order to support what is otherwise an underwhelming blue line. Weegar has been fine, though not as good as he was a season ago. Andersson, however, has been nothing short of spectacular.
Though his offence has dried up over the last week, Andersson still has a team-leading 11 points on the season. He’s not just getting it done on the offensive side, either, as his defensive play has been as good as fans have seen from him in some time. It’s been a nice reminder as to just how good the 28-year-old is capable of being, and fans will hope to see it continue for the remainder of the season.
Flames Need to Keep Foot on the Gas
Though some will believe that tanking and getting a top pick is best for the Flames, there is some real value to winning games with young players in the lineup. Take a player like Matt Coronato for example, who is one of their top prospects. Not only is he a part of a winning roster right now, but he’s had significant contributions. That will go a long way in helping him become a star player that many believe he can be.
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Given how well the Flames have started, fans would be best to embrace it and continue to root for wins the rest of the way. Who knows, maybe they shock the world and end up in a playoff spot at season’s end. Crazier things have happened in the NHL.
