Quote:
Originally Posted by MisterJoji
Regardless of where we end up, I think looking at our record the last 2.5 months, other teams will be wary of us, even if we're a wildcard team. There's an advantage to being the underdog as well. If we draw Chicago or Anaheim the pressure is all on them to win. We merely have to come in and play our game, which as of late has been very solid. We've beaten San Jose, Minnesota, Pittsburgh (twice) Nashville and St. Louis since Jan 1st. We've been one of the best records in the league the last 10 weeks. I think most teams are hoping not to draw us, regardless of home ice advantage.
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Especially if the Flames can go in and say grind out the first game on the road and take away that home ice right away. It puts all the pressure on a team like Chicago. They have played awesome on the road almost all season and I've never been more carefree about home ice advantage before. The Flames aren't one of those good at home but .500 on the road teams. They're a winning team on both fronts and we've seen them grind out games with the best in both situations. I'm nervous when I think about games at the Honda centre, that series in 2015, and maybe a little about what McDavid did in 3/4 games this season, but then I remember that there has been a transformation with this team in the second half and with the additions of Stone and Bartkowski they are a different team now. It'll be riveting to see how the next 6 games go to say the least.
I love how GG and BT are both saying things like they don't need to weather storms any more, but are fully capable of initiating their own.
As long as the team is healthy I think they have a decent chance against anyone if they stick to the game plan the way they have since late January and play with that swagger.That's the difference between the system now and before. Bob's system could be countered by the bigger grinding teams, so sticking to their game plan then sometimes wasn't even enough to win on some nights. It seems that regardless of competition they don't get pushed around or severely outclassed in games now when they've played their game.