The sky is falling for Calgary Flames fans.
Again.
For the second time this season the Flames are on the type of slide that prompts vitriolic tweets and radio rants from fans writing the season off and demanding everyone be fired, demoted or sent to exile in Edmonton. While four losses in a row might not sound so egregious in most markets, the temperature rises when one is a hometown humiliation against their provincial rival and all include 4-0 deficits to start the game.
It’s not so much of a lapse as it is a full on disappearance.
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Outscored 20-7 in the four-game face plant, the team that battled back into a playoff spot before Christmas following a horrid opening month is back to being outclassed in every possible way.
The only one taking more hits than Johnny Gaudreau these days is coach Glen Gulutzan, who everyone wants fired… yes, again.
Yes, the same coach who led them out of their 5-10-1 start is as unpopular as Justin Trudeau ‘round these parts, being made the scapegoat on a team many feel he’s lost.
It’s as ridiculous a notion as the recent speculation GM Brad Treliving may be relieved at season’s end, following word he’s the only GM in the league who doesn’t have a contract for next year.
Fact is, neither is going anywhere anytime soon.
Yes, the Flames have lost six of seven as part of a nosedive that most certainly threatens their post-season plans. But the reality few seem to acknowledge is that despite their January follies the team still holds the final wild card spot in the West.
They’re still in this thing and there is still plenty of hockey to be played.
Granted, it won’t be long before Los Angeles or Vancouver will capitalize on their games in hand to surge past the Flames.
However, the race is still very much a wide open affair.
The emotional response to the club’s dramatic dive represents just another week in a hockey-mad city where the ups and downs of a season are treated like mountains and canyons.
But this to shall pass.
Make no mistake this squad is a shambles right now.
Their confidence is gone. The swagger that saw them win six in a row last month has been replaced by second-guessing, hesitation and, quite frankly, questionable effort.
How else do you explain giving up the first goal in nine straight games?
Well, you wouldn’t be far off if you questioned the goaltending, which is once again back to being the club’s biggest problem. Season saviour Chad Johnson has come back to earth and Brian Elliott has yet to wake up from the costly nightmare his season has been.
Defensively the team has certainly lost its way of late, which isn’t helped by the fact Patrick Marleau has scored more goals for the Sharks his past two outings (five) than the entire Flames offence has its past three games (four). One of those goal scorers was Sam Bennett, whose meaningless tally late in their 5-1 loss in Montreal Tuesday was his first in 13 games. A healthy scratch last week for the first time in his career, the 20-year-old could soon be demoted to the AHL if the team doesn’t figure out quickly enough that he needs to build his confidence first as a winger before he can tackle the responsibilities of a centre.
Either way, a shakeup of some sort would sure help.
Gaudreau needs to have a good sit down with someone like Theo Fleury or Martin St. Louis to find a way to silently fight through the abuse his 160-pound body is taking nightly as part of the simple plan to shut him down.
Sure, his teammates could better protect him from the targeted attacks, but he’s currently unable to negotiate the land of giants like he used to.
That will change.
As will the Flames’ fortunes. The group is too talented for this slide to continue much longer.
Matthew Tkachuk, Mikael Backlund and their line with Michael Frolik continue to be the feel-good story of the year for the team as they wait for players like Gaudreau and Monahan to find some semblance of the consistency they had
before signing their monster contracts.
It will come.
Being out east for a three-game, five-day roadie has certainly insulated the team from the fans’ furor, which won’t subside much even if the team manages to pull off a win in Ottawa Thursday before the all-star break.
The fragility and inconsistency of the group is an obvious concern, as is the way they’re trending.
But in a Western Conference where several other teams are going through similar struggles, there’s still light at the end of a Flames’ tunnel that sure seems to be getting darker and longer every day.
