I have posted a few times about how I was a bit worried - maybe just apprehensive - about the lack of toughness on the Flames (and size as well). I mean, going from Lucic, Gudbranson, Ritchie and Zadorov down to Greer, Pachal and Gilbert is a huge shift. I have posted about how Nurse and Kane are suddenly noticeable out there against the Flames the last couple of games now that Lucic is gone.
I liked the response. Just hit them, but don't engage them. Know what it reminded me of? In Sutter's last season as GM, he got rid of McGrattan (I am assuming because of the off-ice stuff that he was about to conquer), and signed Ivanans instead. Ivanans got KO'd in the first game of the season against Edmonton when he fought MacIntyre. Next game the Flames didn't really have an answer for him - MacIntyre would run guys left and right, and was a hugely intimidating presence.
How did the Flames handle it after that? Instead of avoiding MacIntyre, they looked to hit him at every opportunity. Every time MacIntyre got the puck, he was run hard. I remember Sarich looked like a fricken missile coming down and catching him hard - probably should have been a charging penalty on that. MacIntyre was angry, and kept trying to grab guys and fight. Flames would just skate away, and if they coudln't, everyone would grab MacIntyre so he couldn't fight, and the refs kept giving MacIntyre penalties and the Flames PPs. I think Macintyre didn't dress for the next game.
The whole Kassian and Tkachuk thing threw me for a loop, however. I still think that was the absolute worst officiated game I have seen between the two teams. There is no way that Tkachuk should have been horse-collared and beat up like that. Refs should have stepped-in. Tkachuk was using that same exact game plan that the Flames used in 2010 against MacIntyre - making the tough guy a huge liability by getting him to take bad penalties. I mean, it did work that night against Kassian as the Flames won that game, but it cost Tkachuk a beating, and he was lucky he didn't get seriously injured getting horse-colllared like that. Refs were atrocious in allowing that to go on the way it did.
Last night, McDavid himself opened himself up to being used as the game-plan when he went out and tried to 'physically engage' the Flames. Flames made him a target. It was a BS call on Coleman giving him an embellishment penalty - should have been a PP for the Flames.
Kane and Nurse can pound anyone on the Flames right now. That's where the "what is anyone gonna do about it" hot mic moment came from at the Heritage Classic. I saw a team that seemed fairly demoralized on the ice from the drop of the puck. 2nd game was less so. Last night's game? I saw a team that decided to take the "hit MacIntyre" game plan to a whole new level. Coleman didn't have to fight - and he probably shouldn't have - but he held his own against a much bigger opponent who looks like he probably had a worse day today than Coleman did.
I loved the courage that the Flames showed last night just as much as I loved the courage that they showed against MacIntyre years ago, which I think was the first step in having him banished from the NHL as perhaps the last true goon (McGrattan and others could at least skate and make plays, which is why years later Bob Hartley chose to start the line of McGrattan, Jones and Westgarth, rewarding them for their solid play the previous game while using that as the whip for the other three lines that sucked in that previous game).
It was just nice to see the Flames just being the more physical team out there in spite of being the smaller team and without the benefit of having the toughest guys on the ice. That's a game I will remember for a while. Never backed down. Completely neutered Nurse and Kane in that not only were they kept from making any positive impact for their own team, they ended up being negatives on the ice most shifts.
The next game between the two teams will be Apr 6. That might be a meaningless game for the Oilers by then as they might be well out of a playoff spot by then, and the Flames may look very different by then. Still look forward to seeing that game. Flames showed a heck of a lot of swagger last night, and this type of swagger is what I saw throughout the 2021-22 season, as well as the 2015 season. This time, however, they are doing it without any scary tough players.
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