As the pundits predict the field of playoff participants, barely anybody is mentioning the crew from Calgary.
In the various power rankings, you’ll have to do a whole lot of scrolling to find the Flames.
And the oddsmakers in Las Vegas aren’t exactly bullish on this bunch.
“I saw on the TV today that we’re +17000 to win the Stanley Cup, or something like that,” said sparkplug forward Ryan Lomberg, now back for a second stint with the Flames after a championship run with the Florida Panthers. “Not that I’m allowed to bet, but if I could, now would be the time to take the boys. Because I don’t think the odds will get any worse than that.”
The Flames, even in the throes of what they like to refer to as a ‘retool,’ keep telling everybody that they’ll be better than expected.
Much better.
Starting with Wednesday’s curtain-raiser against the Canucks in Vancouver (8 p.m. MT, Sportsnet West/Sportsnet 960 The Fan), it’s time to show it.
“We’re ready to prove a lot of people wrong,” declared workhorse defenceman Rasmus Andersson. “We know what we have in here. Whether people have us first or last, it doesn’t matter to us.”
Nobody has ’em in first.
Most have ’em in the draft lottery mix.
“We believe in ourselves, and that’s all that matters,” said Flames winger Jonathan Huberdeau. “The media, they can put as the end of the standings. It doesn’t matter to us.”
“To be honest with you, I think those (predictions) are a little over-rated,” echoed first-line centre Nazem Kadri. “Even the teams that you think are going to be the best teams, those analysts could be wrong. And oftentimes they are. This is no different for us. Obviously the expectation is not there, but it is in this room. We certainly don’t expect to go out there and lose every night, and we’re not going to play like that.
“We have a sneaky amount of talent in this room. We have some pace. We have some physicality. We have a little bit of everything. If everyone does their job and plays well and does it collectively, we’re good.”
There are surprise squads in every NHL season, teams that manage to ride a sizzling start to a spring playoff invite.
The Canucks did exactly that in 2023-24, although Calgary can’t claim the same sort of star power. There’s no Quinn Hughes or Elias Pettersson on this roster.
So what has to go right for the Flames to exceed expectations?
They’ll need strong performances from the puck-stopping platoon of Dan Vladar and Dustin Wolf. (Head coach Ryan Huska didn’t bite Tuesday when asked who will be between the pipes on opening night.)
They’ll need some offensive oomph from throughout their lineup, especially with the news that Yegor Sharangovich — their leading lamp-lighter last winter — is week-to-week with a lower-body injury. That includes the need for more than 50-something points from Huberdeau, their highest-paid player.
They will need their power-play to click, will need contributions from their youngsters and, perhaps most important of all, will need to make good on a training camp promise to regularly outwork their opposition.
“Personally, I expect us to make the playoffs,” Lomberg said prior to Tuesday’s flight to Vancouver. “I don’t see why we can’t. Looking at the team we have, how close of a group we are already, the skill we have, the willingness to compete … Everything is there. Obviously, it’s on us to get it done. But internally, expectations are obviously a lot higher than they are from the outside, because outside expectations aren’t high at all. But we’re definitely looking forward to surprising some people. Ultimately, being an underdog isn’t the worst thing in the world. Hopefully, it gets us a handful more points this year by teams underestimating us and taking us lightly. We’ll take advantage of it while it lasts and when it runs its course and teams start taking us as serious as they should, then we’ll be ready for that.
“We’re excited. We’re excited to push and we’re excited to prove people wrong.”
Maybe then they’ll pop up in the playoff predictions, climb in the power rankings and earn a bit more respect from the oddsmakers in Vegas.
Somebody has to be wrong about this. So is the external or the internal expectations that are out of whack? Starting Wednesday, we’ll find out.
“What truly only matters is the belief that’s inside the room and so far, I like the way the guys have approached it,” Huska said after Tuesday’s practice. “I think they have a lot of belief in themselves as individuals but also in the guys that are sitting beside them. So I’m really excited. I want to get our season started. I like what we’ve done in exhibition. And now we get an opportunity against one of the very best teams in the league, so it’s going to be a good challenge for us.”