What's your defining player/moment/statistic from this season?

[surferguy]

Stat - our record against the Pacific. Often goes overlooked.

[thymebalm]

Player: Bouma.

Destroyed my expectations and never took a shift off all year.

HM to Gio, Johnny, Jiri, and Sean.

Moment: Josh Jooris scoring his first hat trick. That was like walking along and seeing a hundred dollar bill on the ground and being like "hey! Found money!" I feel like he sped up the rebuild by nearly a full season. Great role player.

HM to Boston comeback, LA comeback, and 400th win.

Statistic: So many amazing ones to choose from, but I think I'm going to go with Dennis Wideman's 56 points and finishing 4th in defensive scoring.

I had a hard time with Wideman last year, wondering how we were going to manage as he slipped from a top-4 guy to a 5-6 guy. He responded in an incredible way. Wideman crushed it out there this season in Giordano's absence, we are very lucky to have him.

HM to first 3 40 point defenders since 87-88, Russell's record, the away record, and having 10+ guys have career seasons at all the same time. (Gio, Wideman, Brodie, Russell, Monahan, Hudler, Gaudreau, Bouma, Colborne, Granlund, Jooris...)

[malcolmk14]

Player: Bouma

Moment: LA comeback led by Gaudreau and Giordano.

Statistic: Going 12-5-3 after losing Giordano to clinch the playoffs.

[Itse]

Player: Bouma. Personifies the team this season. More skill than anybody expected, better results than anybody expected, more guts than is in any way reasonable to expect from anybody.

Moment: Lots to choose from, but really I think the final game vs. LA is the one for me. I love that in the end we did not scramble for that playoff spot, but just took it. Biggest game in years, and the team just delivers. No fuss, no panic, no real need for superheroic individual performances. Just solid performances throughout the roster, combined with solid teamwork, and you can put it in the win column. Feels good man.

Statistic: Hudler top 10 in league in points. It's key stat often ignored. Best UFA signing EVAR!

[agulati]

Player: JG. Everything fans dreamed of.

Moment: Flames comeback against LA to end the losing skid. A major turning point for the season.

Statistic: The Russell-Wideman pairing. Wideman's season with 56 points and Russell's shot blocking record. The role that pairing has played this year, especially after Gio's injury is significant in the flames getting into the playoffs.

[Yoho]

Moment 3rd period come back of 4 goals in Ottawa to get a point

[Gallick]

Player - Johnny Hockey. Proved extremely adaptable and a fast study in his first year. Silenced every doubter. Brought us some of the most exciting plays we've seen in years.

Moment: The Dec. 22 comeback vs. LA. I was in a hostel room in Queens with the lights out and strangers sleeping, watching the game on my phone at like 1:00 in the morning. I forgot I was in a bottom bunk and punched the top bunk really hard in my attempt at a silent celebration and hurt my hand. Worth it.

Stat - Sean Monahan's 31-31-62 and Jiri Hudler's 31-45-76. We were supposed to struggle to put the puck in the net. Simply unbelievable sophomore season from Monny, and 8th in league scoring is more than I ever expected from Hudler.

[DoubleF]

Moment: Management at the beginning of preseason saying target was playoffs. I laughed and pretty much thought, "If we get the same entertainment as last year end of season, I'll ignore your dumb comment while enjoying the rebuild". That statement kept coming back to me almost haunting as much as it was reassuring as the season went on. "Playoffs? Pfft." to "Playoffs?! Plz plz plz."

Another.. Hartley's oft quips about how the boys are having fun and how everyone expects them to fall, but they don't believe it will happen... reminded me of the above.

Stat: Our points ranking we had in the beginning of the year where we were in the top of the league. Made me think about the statement above over and over.

Edit: Not to mention all the franchise records of rookie hat tricks and other record breaking from the team in general.

Players: (I will tweak this to lines, then jabber. Hard to choose one)

Beginning of year: Gio + Brodie pairing. Showed me we have a dynamic team that seems to play a very different style (countering instead of typical offense/defense game)
End of year: Monahudreau line. Emerged to inherit the thunder from Gio and Brodie line when Gio went down and was a line we could easily trust to neutralize other top lines and still be dangerous.

Misc jabbering

Spoiler!

Honorable mentions: (Players with probably no love)
Engelland - Went from "WTF, hate this guy, awful contract" to "He's alright"
Diaz - Went from "Dude is too small and makes gaffes" to "Glad he's our 7th."
Bouma - Went from "Great heart and soul guy" to (Variation) "How many points?"
Bollig - Went from "Not doing what we want him to" to "had a great game" (Wondering if he's sorta being asked to tweak his game like Grats on Addy)
Stajan/Backlund - Solid. Playing bottom lines with no complaint. Silence speak volumes IMO.

EDIT, how could I forget:
Wideman... went from "Meh, not the worst" to "This guy stepped up huge".
Russel - Hope he doesn't get plastered to RUSSELL!! Love this guy!

The rest of the team. Let's be honest, the team won, not individuals with a supporting cast.

[Nme-Territory]

Moment: Sweeping the Ducks in round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

[Savvy27]

Player: Hudler

Had a career season points-wise and acted as a mentor for Monahan and Gaudreau. In that role he displayed a balance of the requirement of professionalism with the importance of enjoying one's career. He had an incredible run in March to lead the NHL in points and was a major factor in securing a playoff position.

Moment: Loss to Columbus in Game 6 of the season

The LA game is my real answer but that one has been addressed by several posters. This game is less memorable but for me it was a moment of realization of the character of the team. They had recently been throttled by St. Louis in a game where the experts were relishing the fact that they couldn't compete with the good teams in the league. That was followed up by a shootout win in Nashville and an overtime win in Chicago, both of which they owed to fantastic goaltending.

Next up was Columbus in a game where they were outplayed for most of the first two periods. Mason Raymond scored in the third period to make it 3-1 and then Josh Jooris was sent in on a breakaway and scored in his first NHL game to make it 3-2. Calgary dominated the rest of the game and a couple great saves by Bobrovsky and a goal post by Giordano would result in the comeback falling short.

However, this was a turning point in how I viewed the team. This isn't a team that loses, it's a team that occasionally runs out of time. Bob Hartley said this in the post-game, "At the end of the third period we knew we had momentum. You could feel it on the bench. We put ourselves on our heels. Then it's catch-up hockey. Sometimes it works." Little did we know...

Statistic: 45 goals from the rookies. Captures a bit of the contribution from Gaudreau and Jooris, in a year where a lot of us were wondering where the offence was going to come from.

[Howie1984]

Player: Ferland. Will be a warrior in the playoffs backchecking and punishing everyone.

Moment: Hudler in warm-up against the Kings (Clinch game) when he stayed on the ice until all the no good Kings cowered off the ice. (I believe his slapper was the game winner as well)

Statistic: Any upcoming playoff stats we achieve considering where the media had us finishing this year.

[FlatLandFlamesFan]

Player; Just one ? nope entire (Remaining) roster from top to bottom what a team they have become ,even the whipping boys did good.

Moment: those 2 goals down going into the third games (how many where there?) ,being able to laugh with my son and say "Got 'em right were we want them"

Stat : 3rd in the Pacific ! was praying for a wild card spot , but to clinch it on our own !

[sa226]

Player: Lots of em. For me its Johnny. He can make something happen every time he touches the puck. Its scary to think how much he has learned in just 81 games.

Moment: There are admittedly better ones to be sure, but that empty net goal against LA was the most impressive ENG I have ever seen.

Stat: 3rd period goals

WTF?! Moment: Derek Engelland scoring two goals against Dallas to help us earn a crucial point. Haynes summed it up in a tweet "You've got to be shi##ing me"

[squiggs96]

Player: Monahan. This guy is something really special. I love watching him now and am looking forward to watching him for many more years. He's the future Calgary captain.

Moment: Gaudreau's hat trick. I liked it so much I bought the jersey he wore that night from the Flames.

Advanced stat: 97 points. They earned enough points to advance to the playoffs. It's the only stat that matters. Suck it Corsi and Fenwick lovers.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by Jaybo

Lots to choose from in each category obviously!

Here's mine...

Player: Gaudreau's emergence as a superstar you can't take your eyes off

Moment: all of the third period comebacks, especially LA and Boston

Statistic: Kris Russell setting the shot blocking record

Player: Monahan emerging as a top center in this league at such a young age.

Moment: Gaudreau's hat trick/Giordano's OT goal to get us out of our 8 game losing streak in December.

Statistic: Jiri Hudler's career year of 76 points in 78 games. What a great year he's had.

[fuffalo]

Player: Monahan. He seems like he's the real deal.

Moment: The comeback from 4-0 (sure we lost, but it was one of the most fun games i've ever seen)

Stat: Blocked shots from Russell

[FlameZilla]

This team was written off from the start of the season.

Good results were accounted for in the media by above-average goaltending (Hiller vs Chicago) and work ethic. The wheels were going to fall off. They didn't.

Then the media focused on Mark Giordano as a Norris candidate. At a point-per-game pace for the 1st half of the season and it must be him, the Captain, dragging this team from the foot of the standings and into playoff consideration. 3/4 into the season the Captain is injured and team subsequently written off. Yet here we are in the playoffs.

This is the team that defies expectation and has a legion of depth ready to step in when their time comes.

There is no one player on the team whose ego is out of proportion to his role on the team. Monahan and Gaudreau, arguably the most talented in the lineup, are the youngest and most humble on the bench. The season went into overdrive once Hartley put the two of them on the top line with Hudler. Just perfect synergy.

Now the team will be written off because of an injury crisis. Bouma, Gio, Ramo are all out and the media will say it's too much for the Little Engine that Could.

I look forward to seeing who will step up now and help this team continue to defy expectations.

[CSharp]

Three things come to mind that defined the 2014/2015 season:

1) Emergence of Gaudreau - totally exciting player that gives the his linemates offence. The puck control into offensive territory is unbelievable. His abilities to get into the opposition zone and keep it in is pretty awesome.

2) Flames defencemen having more confidence and jumping up into the play. This is far different than what the previous Sutter preached.

3) Number of blocked shots by Russell, Bouma, and others. This is not one that I'd like to see since that's a goalie's job to save those shots from entering the net. Having any of the crucial players hurt for any extended time is worse than a goal scored. Plus, the Flames are going down to block shots rather than skating to fight for the puck in their own zone, which is why they play in their own zone so many times against good teams.

[M*A*S*H 4077]

Player: Wideman. Stepped up along with everyone else when Gio went down and the coaches challenged him by giving him the A and he elevated his game to the next level.

Moment: The empty netter that clinched playoffs against LA. Playoffs!

Statistic: Two 30 goal scorers and the whole top line over 60 points.

[Jay Random]

Player: Johnny Hockey. Gaudreau is a wasp in the offensive zone. He can buzz through openings that no other player can even see, and good things happen in a hurry. At the start of the season I figured he'd replace Cammalleri's scoring. (Remember when that was a question?) But I didn't know he'd change the team's whole offensive game.

I'm becoming a believer in Valiquette's ‘royal road’, as I think it answers a lot of the questions that are raised by the limitations of Corsi and Fenwick. With Gaudreau and four good offensive defencemen, the puck criss-crosses the royal road like a jai-alai ball, and no goalie can keep up every time. I firmly believe that accounts for a lot of the team's shooting percentage and overall offence.

Moment: The Schlemko. Shootout winner from a waiver-wire pickup – and suddenly it became clear that even without Giordano, this team was not going to lie down and die.

Statistic: This year's Flames are the 800-pound gorilla of third periods and OT. Someone should bribe the scorekeeper to number the periods 3, 4, and 5. We'd win the Cup in 16 straight games.