Flames: 30-35-5, 65 points, 6th in Pacific, 12th in West, 26th in NHL.
Avalanche: 36-31-4, 76 points, 5th in Central, 8th in West, 17th in NHL.
Continuing our end of the year evaluation, I will focus on players who definitely have a final grade from me.
Johnny Gaudreau (A): G-26, A-44, P-70, +7. What a shining star Gaudreau has become. No sophomore slump for him obviously. Gaudreau has been roughly a point-per-game player all year long, despite some tough offensive stretches for his most common line mates, Monahan and Hudler. As well, being a plus player on such a bad team is nothing short of impressive, especially for an undersized forward playing in the Western Conference. As it sits today, Gaudreau is 6th in league scoring, tied with Kuznetsov, and just 3 points behind Tyler Seguin for 3rd in the league. Not bad kid...not bad at all.
Matt Stajan (C-): G-4, A-11, P-15, -8. Stajan's game has slipped yet again. Last year he was able to provide important minutes on the penalty kill and chipped in enough offense to be respectable. He's gone from 33 points in 66 games in 13/14, to 17 points in 59 games in 14/15, to just 11 points in 68 games this year, and limited 4th line minutes. Not sure why it's been such a challenge for Stajan this year, as his game doesn't seem to look much different. However, I will say I haven't see as much determination or hustle from him this year and he seems to be going through the motions. With a couple more years on his contract, I just hope he finds a way to come back next year ready to contribute more.
Mason Raymond (D-): G-4, A-1, P-5, -3. Not much to say about Raymond anymore. He's likely done as an NHLer. He can't do anything at the NHL level except shoot the puck, and even that he can't do with enough regularity to be useful. I openly wonder how much his previous back injuries are catching up with him, as he looks incredibly awkward and stiff out there. Seems to be a prime buyout candidate this off-season depending on how other contract negotiations go.
Dennis Wideman (F): G-2, A-17, P-19, -9. I don't want to be too hard on Wideman, as he wasn't the sole problem on this team this year, but he didn't do what he was paid to do, and that's score goals and put up points. I can live with the defensive gaffes and the slow foot speed if he's scoring, but he probably was the single biggest reason our power play was so awful for so long this year. Being on the top PP unit and continually shooting the puck into shin pads can single handedly destroy any flow on the power play. Plus, poor decision making almost regularly makes for a very flawed defenseman. Even with 3rd pairing minutes, Wideman had at least one heart-attack moment per game. Attackers are starting to blow by him with ease, so next year might be even worse for him in the defensive zone. However, if he regains his offensive swagger, there's hope that he could be a serviceable power play specialist who can play on the 3rd pair. That season would have probably earned him a D, but add in the Don Henderson incident and the black eye it gave the Flames organization, and there's no way I could give him anything other than an F.
Jonas Hiller (F---): 9-10-1, GAA: 3.41, Sv%: .883. If there were a "Z" grade, that's what I would give Hiller. Just an absolute wreck of a season. Let the team down time and again with terribly weak goals. I'm honestly shocked that he has 9 wins on the year. After such a solid campaign last year, I'm extremely disappointed in Hiller this year. I never had very high expectations of him during his time here, as I viewed him as merely a capable NHL goalie who has consistency issues, 1A/1B. This year I wouldn't even rank him 3rd on the Flames depth chart, as I think Kevin Poulin would probably have given the Flames a better chance to win most nights. He had a very poor start to the year, got better in his spot duty backing up Ramo, and then when Ramo went down he completely dropped the ball again, essentially eliminating any chance of the post-season for the Flames at such a crucial time of the year. Goodbye Jonas Hiller. Don't let the door hit your butt on the way out.
Roster Notes: All of the following players are doubtful for tonight's game for the Flames: Dennis Wideman, T.J. Brodie, Sam Bennett, and Ladislav Smid. No word yet on a defenseman recall, so there is a slim possibility we see Brodie tonight. For the Avs, Landeskog will serve the last of his 3 game suspension tonight. Chris Bigras is out with a concussion. Brad Stuart is out for the year with back surgery, and Jesse Winchester is still out with concussion-like symptoms. Lineups are based on recent practice, and are subject to updates throughout the day. Both starting goalies are confirmed.
Edit: Brodie likely to play as per sureLoss.
Flames
Gaudreau-Monahan-Ferland
Colborne-Backlund-Hathaway
Bouma-F. Hamilton-Frolik
Bollig-Stajan-Jooris
Giordano-
Brodie
Jokipakka-D. Hamilton
Engelland-Nakladal
Ortio
Avalanche
Grigorenko-Duchene-Iginla
Boedker-Mackinnon-Comeau
Matthias-Söderberg-Martinsen
McLeod-Mitchell-Skille
Beauchemin-Johnson
Holden-Barrie
Gelinas-Redmond
Varlamov
Go Flames Go!!!!!!