[Armchair Quarterback]

In today's National Post:

You are familiar with the storylines by now. In Calgary, a Flames team that was almost unanimously thought to be among the league’s bottom five teams — right where they were last year — has instead been inside the playoff bubble for most of the season. They seem to have accomplished this feat with the hockey equivalent of chewing gum, matchsticks and bailing wire, winning a pile of games in which their opponent thoroughly controlled the play. They have done unusually well in overtime and shootouts, have the most comeback wins in hockey, and have even had an absurd stretch of luck with their goalie pulled. They also happen to be one of the worst teams in the league in terms of shot differential, right there near the bottom with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who both appear to be terrible and, in fact, are.

...If the Flames are unable to eke out the required points to make the post-season, it won’t be a case of them losing their heart or finding their supply of grit tragically exhausted, but simply a case of their season-long high-wire act catching up to them. (Not to mention the impact of losing captain Mark Giordano for the season. That hurts in a very tangible way.)

http://news.nationalpost.com/2015/03...-the-playoffs/