Calgary Flames Anticipate Playoff Success as Season End Approaches

(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

As the end of the season approaches, the race for first place in the Northwest division has seemingly narrowed. As of tonight’s games, Calgary has only a five point lead over Vancouver with one more game played, whereas only two weeks ago they still had a ten point lead over Vancouver.

In addition, though they have more points than fourth place Chicago, they have slipped even further behind Detroit, who they beat tonight 5-3 in Calgary, as they find themselves 15 points behind the defending Stanley Cup champions and 16 behind first place San Jose.

Consecutive losses to Carolina, Atlanta, and New Jersey last week threatened to unravel the team before the playoffs.

However, two wins against Detroit in the last two weeks and a victory against Dallas has hopefully righted the ship enough so that they will successfully maintain the division lead heading into the playoffs.

As the playoffs near, the strengths and weaknesses of the team have, and will continue to become, glaringly obvious.

The most important weakness that Calgary was unable to address by the trade deadline is the lack of a viable back-up for Miikka Kiprusoff. Curtis McElhinney has yet to show he is capable of playing in the NHL.

In five starts and ten total appearances for the Flames, he has 0 wins, a 3.78 GAA, and a save percentage of .882. In watching him play, he consistently gives up large rebounds that enable teams to score in bunches.

While Kiprusoff has shown time and again his ability to carry the team through the playoffs, he has always had experienced backups such as Jamie McLennan and Curtis Joseph to spare him at least a game in a hard fought playoff series.

Another weakness that will hopefully resolve itself is the number of injuries to key players. Rene Bourque isn’t expected to return until the very end of the season, having remained out of the lineup since injuring his ankle against the Minnesota Wild on February 19.

Mark Giordano would only make it back to the team if they played into May, meaning they’d have to make it through at least one round of the playoffs before he’d become a viable roster candidate.

Todd Bertuzzi hasn’t played since March 1 after requiring minor surgery on his injured left knee. Rhett Warrener remains on the Calgary roster but has yet to play after shoulder surgery. Wayne Primeau hasn’t played since December, and Andre Roy has missed the last two games as well.

However, a few of these players expect to be back come playoff time, so hopefully the injuries won’t cause the Flames any trouble once the season finishes.

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