This storyline might feel familiar …
The Calgary Flames are in the midst of a surprise season, right in the thick of a playoff race that nobody expected they’d be a part of.
And then comes bad news. Their captain has been injured. He’ll be out a while.
It happened a decade ago when Mark Giordano was wearing the ‘C.’
It happened again Friday when the team announced that shutdown centre Mikael Backlund is out week-to-week due to an upper-body ailment.
“We have to write our own story,” stressed Flames forward Blake Coleman.
True enough, but they can perhaps take some inspiration and optimism from this dusty story, too.
The injury to Giordano was supposed to sink the 2014-15 Flames. When they confirmed that their workhorse defenceman would be out for the remainder of that season, they were tied for both third in the Pacific Division and eighth in the Western Conference.
Heading into Friday’s clash with the Colorado Avalanche, the Flames were fourth in the Pacific … and tied for eighth in the West.
A decade ago, those ‘Find-A-Way Flames’ found a way.
Can this current edition repeat that feat, emerging from the four-horse race for that final wild-card spot? The Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues and Utah Hockey Club are also in this mix.
Could Backlund return this season?
Unlike in 2014-15, it hasn’t been ruled out that Backlund could return to action sometime between now and the April 17 finale. Week-to-week could mean two or three or four. But folks will say the same thing they did back when Giordano was sidelined — ‘Without their captain, they’re cooked!’
“It’s not easy for him to be out. He wants to be out here, especially at this time of the year,” said Flames leading scorer Jonathan Huberdeau of Backlund. “But we’re going to play for him and we’re going to get the job done.
“At the end of the day, you can’t control injuries and stuff like that. Whoever is in the room, we have to do the job. Whoever will be out, we have to still believe and be there and everybody has to give more. Some guys are going to be put in situations that maybe they weren’t before, but you need to be there for your team.”
Leadership shouldn’t be an issue during Backlund’s absence, with head coach Ryan Huska constantly reminding that there are a half-dozen dudes in this follow-us department. That list also includes Coleman and Huberdeau, plus Rasmus Andersson, Nazem Kadri and MacKenzie Weegar. As Kadri put it: “It’s a good thing not all six of us are out.”
What makes Backlund so darn difficult to replace, however, is his status as Calgary’s best defensive forward, their go-to guy at the face-off dot and a key penalty-killer.
Compounding the concern is the fact that centre is arguably the thinnest position on the Flames’ depth chart.
For Friday’s matchup with the Avalanche, they planned to shift Yegor Sharangovich to the middle of the ice. That experiment should last at least two games, until Connor Zary has served his suspension.
Towering right-winger Adam Klapka now has a shot to be an every-nighter. Dryden Hunt, a proud new dad, was recalled Friday from the AHL’s Wranglers. He brings some been-there and done-that.
“Guys just have to play their game, whatever their strength is,” Coleman said. “You’re not going to send out a guy that is going to play the same way that Backs does. He’s a special player because of what he brings to the table. This team will have to find a little bit of a new identity in the games that he’s out and guys will find different ways to step up and be impactful.”
It’s a big ask, but it’s been done before.
Back in 2015, trying to hide the severity of Giordano’s injury because they didn’t want to show all their cards in the lead-up to the trade deadline, the Flames had their captain take the pre-game warm-up on Long Island. He pushed a puck around, only one hand on his stick, as he nursed a torn bicep tendon.
That night, when they dressed both Raphael Diaz and Corey Potter on their blue-line, not many scanned the Flames’ roster and thought to themselves, ‘Oh, they’ll be fine.’
But they were. They scratched out a 12-6-3 record without their heart-and-soul, clinched their playoff berth in Game 81 of 82 and even won a round that spring.
Maybe the 2024-25 Flames will be fine, too. Hopefully, Backlund, who happens to be their lone holdover from a decade ago, will be able to contribute before the end of this five-week sprint to the finish.
“Your leadership group, whether that starts with the coaching staff or those six guys we talk about all the time … It’s how they approach or how they come into the rink every day, so the players understand that it doesn’t really matter who is in or out of our lineup, expectations are the same,” Huska said after Friday’s morning skate. “Other guys have to raise their level. Other lines, other pairs, have to raise their level. It’s something we’ve done all year and it’s something I believe that we will continue to do.”