Who is your biggest surprise in 2013/14?

[tvp2003]

As the regular season winds down, I can think of no less than 6 pleasant surprises that have turned year 1 of the rebuild into great hope and optimism for the future. In no particular order:

1) Emergence of Giordano as a true captain, leader, and Norris-calibre defenceman. His numbers (individually and as a team, with and without him in the lineup) only scratch the surface of what he has accomplished this year.

2) Karri Ramo proving himself at the NHL level, especially since the Olympic break. The "best goalie outside of the NHL" is now a legit goalie in the NHL.

3) Sean Monahan forcing his way into the lineup as an 18 year old, and potting 20 goals to boot. His two-way game, maturity, and hockey IQ confirm he's only a rookie according to his birth certificate.

4) TJ Brodie rocketing into the #1 defence pairing with Giordano. Smart defensively and gifted offensively, he is a fourth round pick that is playing like a blue-chip first rounder.

5) Big Ern McGrattan becoming a force both on and off the ice. Started the season as the best fighter in the NHL; has added undisputed leader, quality teammate, fan favorite, and occasional goal scorer to his resume as well.

6) Mikael Backlund finally putting it together with a breakthrough season, playing a full 200 foot game and combining that speed and skill with a strong defensive game. Plus one for his leadership in the community.

Honorable mentions go to Lance Bouma for becoming Sandbox 2.0 and Kris Russell for emerging as a top 4 d-man.

Who is your biggest surprise this season? Who has made the biggest jump this year, based on expectations going into the season?

[lanny9]

Giordano, no doubt about it! Knew he was good but has taken it to a whole new level!

[FlamesAddiction]

I am going to say Monahan, but only because I am used to overhyping prospects and then getting disappointed.

Also Backlund, not because of his offense this season, but because he looks like a veteran leader now.

[Huntingwhale]

Gio. He had a meh year last year. Never really heard anything about his leadership capabilities. In fact, I thought the entire veteran leadership was garbage the last 2 seasons. Losers like Stempniak, Stajan, etc. What could they possibly contribute to this team?

The vets this year, lead by Gio, have been nothing short of phenomenal in dealing with a young group of rookies all season long. Gio's been a stellar #1 defenseman and has quietly become a star in this league. I'm very very happy he's our captain.

[nik-]

The fact that we somehow found a legitimate top pairing, which is probably one of the most difficult parts of a rebuild. Year one.

I'm also surprised Sean Monahan's hair hasn't become self aware yet, it's the Skynet of hairs.

[Circa89]

Several surprises but I would also like to add Colborne and Granlund to the mix. Colborne seems to be a major building block moving forward together with Monahan. I had almost forgotten Granlund was in the pipeline. He looked like a legitimate NHLer prior to his injury.

My vote goes to Monahan however.

[topfiverecords]

I would say Colborne's play as the biggest surprise.

[Itse]

Positive surprises, somewhat in order of magnitude: Backlund, Giordano, Russell, Colborne, McGrattan, Monahan, Butler.

Happy but not really surprised: Brodie, Rämö.

Negative surprises: Baertchi, Galiardi, Wideman.

Disappointed but not surprised: David Jones, SOB.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

2) Karri Ramo proving himself at the NHL level, especially since the Olympic break. The "best goalie outside of the NHL" is now a legit goalie in the NHL.


4) TJ Brodie rocketing into the #1 defence pairing with Giordano. Smart defensively and gifted offensively, he is a fourth round pick that is playing like a blue-chip first rounder.

5) Big Ern McGrattan becoming a force both on and off the ice. Started the season as the best fighter in the NHL; has added undisputed leader, quality teammate, fan favorite, and occasional goal scorer to his resume as well.

6) Mikael Backlund finally putting it together with a breakthrough season, playing a full 200 foot game and combining that speed and skill with a strong defensive game. Plus one for his leadership in the community.

Agree 100% with these ones especially. McGrattan is someone we must keep going forward. His value to the locker room is huge.

Ramo has been unreal. And now we have Ortio as well. I don't imagine there was many people thinking our goalie situation was going to be anywhere near as good as it is after the departure of Kipper.

Backlund...what can you say about this guy? He's been awesome, huge surprise. I thought he was going to fade into the sunset but man has he re-invented himself.

But for me, by far the biggest surprise is how well this team has come together. Who in a million years would have thought that losing a star player in each position (Kipper, Bow, Iggie) would produce a team the next season what was so much fun to watch?

Lot of work to do yet but I still think it's hilarious that we aren't even finished the first year of our rebuild and already doing better than Edmonton.

I really like the direction we are headed.

[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

I would say Colborne's play as the biggest surprise.

Was going to add Colborne as an honorable mention, but decided to keep it to two. He's turned in a solid rookie season, but I actually think Colborne makes his big jump next year playing exclusively on the wing.

[ClubFlames]

Hartley for me.

After last season I never thought he would be the right coach for this team during a rebuild year. He picked Giordano as the captain which propelled into him having a great year. He has given ample ice time to rookies to develop, put them in tough situations, has a system in place, has everyone on the same page (which was the challenge for many years). It has been mentioned throughout the year that Calgary has the best and toughest practices out of any team in the league and Hartley has become a great teacher with a positive message for this team. We were continually picked by pretty much everyone to be at the bottom of the league and just get rolled over but with the work ethic instilled by Hartley that is not the case.

As for picking players, I would pick Backlund, Colborne and Russell.

[EldrickOnIce]

Biggest surprise is the depth of the prospect pool.
While it lacks elite offensive talent (save for hopefully JG) I have been very surprised with the talent in the system.

Of course, lacking that elite talent is the difference between maybe sneaking in and being a legitimate contender.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by ClubFlames

Hartley for me.

After last season I never thought he would be the right coach for this team during a rebuild year. He picked Giordano as the captain which propelled into him having a great year. He has given ample ice time to rookies to develop, put them in tough situations, has a system in place, has everyone on the same page (which was the challenge for many years). It has been mentioned throughout the year that Calgary has the best and toughest practices out of any team in the league and Hartley has become a great teacher with a positive message for this team. We were continually picked by pretty much everyone to be at the bottom of the league and just get rolled over but with the work ethic instilled by Hartley that is not the case.

As for picking players, I would pick Backlund, Colborne and Russell.

+1

Harley's certainly my biggest surprise of 2013/14. Love what he's done with this team.

You've said it all ClubFlames, but one of the things I like the most is that he slowly and progressively gave the young kids a greater role and more ice-time. He promised he'd give Monahan more time and a more expanded role after the Olympic break, and he did.

There's no doubt in my mind that he's the right coach for this team at least for the next couple of years.

[Jiggy_12]

All of those are great examples of positives and strides forward this season, but Brodie, Mcgrattan, and Bouma did not surprise me. I had a feeling Brodie's development would be steady and Bouma with a full healthy season came as advertised.

Biggest surprises for me.

6. Work ethic and team buy-in
5. Baertschi's disappointing season
4. Backlund's emergence
3. Monahan scoring 20
2. Ramo looking like the real deal
1. Giordano playing at a Norris level

[rexx92]

We lost Iginla and Kipper and still finished ahead of the Oilers.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by rexx92

We lost Iginla and Kipper and still finished ahead of the Oilers.

Not a surprise, at all.

[Gaskal]

Any thread with this amount of good feels is bookmark worthy

[TherapyforGlencross]

For me, either Colborne or Russell. I didn't think Russell would be much more than a 6th/7th defenseman.. The guy has absolutely exceeded my expectations and he's done a great job this season. As for Colborne I thought he would go back onto the waiver wire (this was right when we traded for him). However, I think he has a future with this team if his play continues.

[Bourque's Twin]

This season is full of surprises.

I just spent 10 minutes writing out all of them. Then I pictured my reaction if someone told me in October that this would happen.

I came to the conclusion that Giordano is the biggest surprise. We all knew he was a good NHL defenseman, maybe even a decent #2 guy on his best days. But Norris / Team Canada worthy? Are you kidding me? Top 3 in points per game (among D) in the NHL behind Karlsson and Keith? That's a huge surprise. Not only are his stats ridiculous but his ability to lead and help the youngsters buy in is incredible.

[habernac]

Giordano. He's cemented himself as an elite defenseman in this league.

Backlund. Love how he has developed this year, has a little bit of grit now.

McGrattan. On and off the ice, how can you not absolutely love this guy. the camera footage in the hallway in Vancouver as this giant is keeping the peace. The goofy video of him in the blow up Sumo suit. The man has character as big as he is.