Flames' frustrations boil over with aggressive exchange at practice

CALGARY — A two-handed stick smash across the crossbar is always a pretty good indication that temperatures are running hot.

So are heated words and shoving matches between teammates that require separation from cooler heads.

Such was the scene at Flames practice Friday, following the team’s first two-game losing skid in over two months.

Standards around here have clearly been elevated, almost as high as frustrations were late in a skate at WinSport Arena in which curious onlookers were as intrigued as the media by an aggressive exchange between Blake Coleman and Erik Gudbranson.

As part of a half-court-type battle drill pitting four against four in close quarters, Coleman pushed Gudbranson by the end boards in a fashion the burly blue-liner didn’t take kindly to, given how dangerous the impact could have been if he’d slipped.

He retaliated with a shove that, given the size discrepancy, flattened Coleman.

Gudbranson then smashed his stick in two over the iron before he and Coleman shoved one another, continuing their animated exchange of ideas. 

Noah Hanifin and several others intervened, as coach Darryl Sutter stood nearby, devoid of a reaction, but clearly okay with the old school skirmish.

"It’s good, it’s a contact sport," shrugged Sutter. "We need some more guys like that.

"Those two guys that are out there banging each other, those are two bangers. We need some of the guys who are pillow fighting to do a little bit of that."

Vintage Sutter, punctuating a near punch-up with a punchline.

For a coach with unmatched intensity and the demand his players follow suit, they are moments he’d expect from a pair of veterans like them.

Encouraging his club to recognize this time of year requires increased intensity and emotion, he couldn’t have asked for more. 

"It happened ... big deal," he shrugged.

Asked if he was involved in practice battles as a player of the '80s, he smiled.

"Probably," he said, before correcting himself. "Not probably, everybody was.

"These practices are easy, compared to what we did back then. Guys couldn’t wait to do it. You always had rivalries on your own team. That’s what you want. Defencemen/forwards, line/line, centre/centre.

"Creatures of habit, so if you do it in practice there’s a chance you’ll do it in a game."

Such frustration was evident in Thursday night’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings when Milan Lucic stormed back to the bench at the end of yet another particularly frustrating period for the Flames.

Trailing 1-0 after being unable to break through the neutral zone barriers set up by the Kings, Lucic repeatedly slammed his stick on the top of the boards as he climbed in through the gate.

Turning his snarl towards his teammates, he shared some pointed thoughts with a group that has only won four of its last nine outings.

It’s hardly surprising to hear Lucic endorsed the brief, in-house conflict between Coleman and Gudbranson Friday.

"It is a good thing," he said. "You practice like you play. If you’re intense in practice, you’re intense in games. Good teams have that. Main thing is bringing that intensity tomorrow."

Sutter joked Friday, "usually April is flowers and overtimes."

It’s also about responding properly to the pressures and demands of a tighter-checking game he warned was coming down the stretch.

Of late, he’s been lukewarm to his club’s response.

"I think pretty normal — pretty much what I thought because a lot of them haven’t been through it," he said, forever unable to resist reminding folks it’s not good enough to simply lead a division by five points, as they do.  

"There’s some of them that know about it and some that don’t. It’s important as a group that they pull each other.

"It goes back to we’re trying to change the culture here, and it’s not that easy to tell you the truth. I’ve worked hard at it over a year now, through the summer, and you still have a few guys. It’s difficult."

INJURY NOTE: Oliver Kylington and Sean Monahan missed practice Friday.

The defenceman left Thursday’s game in the third period after taking a high stick from Kings forward Rasmus Kupari before smashing head-first into the boards.

As a player who missed some time last month shortly after a similarly awkward hit into the boards, it would surprise no one if he missed some time to recover.

Michael Stone took Kylington’s spot alongside Chris Tanev on the second pairing, and the team may very well summon Connor Mackey from Stockton to be the team’s seventh defenceman Saturday against visiting St. Louis.