[News Roundup] Flames stories Jan 16, 2018

[Yrebmi]

With apologies to Ms Teeks, here are some current stories on our favorite hockey team.

The Calgary Flames are deep, talented and worthy of some hype

Sportsnet

All three Flames forwards on the ice – Mark Jankowski, Garnet Hathaway and Andrew Mangiapane – had started the season as a line in the AHL. On the blue line was another Flames farmhand – Brett Kulak – who’d played just 30 games over the last three years with the Flames.

As a group, they dominated the shift.

Flames players dominate NHL '3 Stars of the Week' honours
Daily Hive

I guess the stick toss worked? Ten days after head coach Glen Gulutzan flipped out on his team at practice, things are looking pretty good for the Calgary Flames.

How Mark Jankowski Fixed the Flames
The Hockey Writers

Flames began turning their season around at the end of October, as some roster moves resulted in some lineup shuffling that more adequately slotted players in their appropriate positions. While it’s a bit of a stretch to say he saved their season, the October recall of prospect Mark Jankowski went a long way towards fixing the Flames.

The Calgary Flames are quietly surging up the NHL’s Western Conference standings
SBNATION

So far this season, no one has been able to take the Pacific Division crown from the Vegas Golden Knights. The NHL’s newest franchise took the league by storm and has been sitting untouched at the top of the Pacific for most of the season. However, if the Calgary Flames have any say in the matter, it might not be for much longer.

Francis: Sean Burke not surprised Mike Smith's fortunes have turned ... again
Francis/Sun

“Smitty was almost out of the league,” said the retired netminder-turned Team Canada GM who spent a handful of years as Smith’s goalie coach in Arizona.

Edit Added

SN Exclusive: One-on-one with Flames GM Brad Treliving
Sporting News

Treliving: A lot gets made of it, those types of things don’t happen often but they happen a lot more frequently than you think, usually they’re just behind closed doors. Our team was a little loose in practice, he wanted to get their attention and it really wasn’t that big of a deal. I know it’s been made a big deal of in the media because it was sort of out in front of everybody. Those aren’t things you’re going to do every day or every week, but you’ve got to get the attention of the team sometimes and he did. Having said that, I don’t think it’s the reason we’ve won (five) in a row, but he wanted to get their attention and I had no issue with it at all, none. I also didn’t really think a whole lot about it. The guys had a lot of jump right after that for the rest of practice and then we moved on. I know the theatre of it all is fun for some to watch but I haven’t really given it a lot of thought.

[heep223]

Haven't seen one of these in a while! Thanks for this, good way to fill up the bye week

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Yrebmi

The Calgary Flames are quietly surging up the NHL’s Western Conference standings
SBNATION...

Originally Posted by SBNation

"With the standings close in the middle of the pack, Calgary could fall out of the playoff picture just by taking a break at the wrong time."

Wrong!

The worst the Flames can finish after the bye week is in the #2 Wildcard, two points out of the Division #3 slot behind SJ minus one game-in hand, and three points out of the Division #2 slot behind LA with a game in hand.

[red sky]

Plus "playoff picture" would imply they are no longer competing for a playoff spot which we know is an incorrect statement.

[Erick Estrada]

I made the mistake of reading the comments section for the Francis story. Oilers fans are without a doubt a special breed.

[Phaneufenstein]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I made the mistake of reading the comments section for the Francis story. Oilers fans are without a doubt a special breed.

I read them for the lols of Oiler fan delusion

[the2bears]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I made the mistake of reading the comments section for the Francis story. Oilers fans are without a doubt a special breed.

I wanted to have some schadenfreude, but I don't see any comments at all. Even says '0' for me. Must be a location, or networking thing.

[belsarius]

Originally Posted by the2bears

I wanted to have some schadenfreude, but I don't see any comments at all. Even says '0' for me. Must be a location, or networking thing.

The first article and the second last are both Francis. I think he means the first one as I don't see any comments on the last one either.

[MissTeeks]

Here’s another good article today:

Flames coach explains why he threw his stick into the stands at practice

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/f...ands-practice/

Curiously, his team had won two games in a row when the coach snapped, so what made him boil over that day? Gulutzan said it wasn’t pre-meditated and explained what happened to the Hockey Central at Noon crew on Tuesday.

First, he was debating with his staff whether or not to hold a practice at all. But coming off a 4-3 win over the Kings, in which the Flames’ power play went 0-for-4, Gulutzan decided they needed to put in some work on that part of their game. The coach figured he’d skate the players for 15-20 minutes to warm up, practise a bit on the man advantage and thought “it won’t be long.”

That’s when it went off the rails.

“It was awful,” Gulutzan explained. “It was like we had won the Stanley Cup the night before and we were just putting in time. As the first 10-12 minutes went, because I premised it, I put some thought into it, it struck me the wrong way. I thought we could have taken a hold of it and changed it and we didn’t and that’s what triggered it for me. Nothing pre-planned or meditated, but I think at some point I was trying to decide to smash my stick or throw it.

“We got young guys in here and that’s not our culture. So that was going to put an end to it quickly.”

[ForeverFlameFan]

Jankowski plays a big role on this team, more than what we think. He is the reason why our bottom 6 became relevant again, and another reason why Bennett was moved to LW and has played that position rather well. Jankowski makes everyone better around him too, he's been an absolute pleasure to watch.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by MissTeeks

Here’s another good article today:

Flames coach explains why he threw his stick into the stands at practice

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/f...ands-practice/

Throwing was the correct choice. As long as he cleared the glass, it went as intended. If he chose to smash the stick, what if it doesn't break?

[foshizzle11]

This is from the comments section. I had to post because it has to be my favorite pet name for McDavid so far: Conner McNoplayoffs

Those comments on Francis' article are awesome, anyone looking to kill time, this is a must read.

[Yrebmi]

Yew

Originally Posted by belsarius

The first article and the second last are both Francis. I think he means the first one as I don't see any comments on the last one either.

I'm so sorry!!
I totally should have warned for any Francis clicks
No sarcasm. I really dislike that writer

[EldrickOnIce]

I only read the first Francis article, but it was very good

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

I only read the first Francis article, but it was very good

[timbit]

“That’s a talent. That’s no different to me than how Brett Hull shoots the puck or how Wayne Gretzky sees the ice. You can work on it but that’s just a natural ability he has that very few have. Marty Brodeur maybe had somewhat close to that, but Smitty’s the very best.”

Sean Burke on Mike Smith’s puckhandling.