{"id":392479,"date":"2026-01-06T20:55:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T20:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/392479\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T20:55:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T20:55:11","slug":"flames-mid-season-report-poor-start-leaves-team-scrambling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/392479\/","title":{"rendered":"Flames mid-season report: Poor start leaves team scrambling"},"content":{"rendered":"

CALGARY \u2014 The first half of the season has been a colossal failure for the Calgary Flames<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Instead of opening the season with the same swagger they finished with last season, they sit 30th\u00a0overall, thanks in large part to an eight-game losing skid to open the season.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve been scratching and clawing to save their season ever since.<\/p>\n

And while there were glimmers of hope when a solid December allowed the team to get back to .500 last week, the team promptly responded with two duds against fellow bottom-dwellers.<\/p>\n

\u201cTough start, better middle, last two games not the way we want,\u201d summed up Flames coach Ryan Huska, whose hard-working club simply can\u2019t score goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think earlier on in the year, there were games that I thought we played really well, (but) when we had our struggles, we beat ourselves a lot of nights. After we got over that hump, I thought we started playing more of a complete game as a team. We got better goaltending, our special teams, especially the penalty kill, started performing much better and allowed us to gain some traction.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The strength of this club, goaltending, has given them a chance to keep its slim playoff hopes alive.<\/p>\n

But much more is needed up front.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Armed with the league\u2019s worst road record, the Flames now head out on a five-game eastern swing that could add clarity to some of the tough personnel decisions at hand.<\/p>\n

There is hope that with the return of rejuvenated world juniors star Zayne Parekh<\/a> returning, the league\u2019s worst power play will get a jolt.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, offence will continue to be the club\u2019s No. 1 issue.<\/p>\n

Mikael Backlund\u2019s third line has been, by far, the team\u2019s best this season, playing stellar hockey of late with Blake Coleman and Matt Coronato on the wings.<\/p>\n

They spearheaded the recent surge that saw the club win nine of 12, which has served to cloud what many thought was a great opportunity to lean into their nightmarish start by selling off assets as part of a lost season.<\/p>\n

It still may very well come to that, but with ownership hesitant to completely rebuild, and the team sitting just five points out of a playoff spot, the direction GM Craig Conroy will take is still a mystery.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s patiently listening to offers on everyone on his roster, but is steadfast in refusing to trade anyone unless the prices he\u2019s set are matched.<\/p>\n

Despite being the Flames’ best player this year, Rasmus Andersson will undoubtedly be swapped out, as he\u2019s a 29-year-old pending UFA who is too old for the retooling club to be re-upped for the eight years he\u2019s looking for.<\/p>\n

Coleman, who has been the team\u2019s best forward, will be in heavy demand, as will Nazem Kadri<\/a>, who was the team\u2019s best player a year earlier.<\/p>\n

How deep the selloff goes will play a big role in shaping the team\u2019s second half.<\/p>\n

And so, we wait \u2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Record: 18-20-4 (7th in Division, 30th in NHL)<\/p>\n

Goals per game: 2.62 (30th in NHL)<\/p>\n

Goals against per game: 2.95 (12th in NHL)<\/p>\n

Power play: 14.5 per cent (32nd in NHL)<\/p>\n

Penalty kill: 81.3 per cent (13th in NHL)<\/p>\n

After playing parts of six seasons in the minors, patiently developing, Flames 2020 second-round pick Yan Kuznetsov was summoned from the Wranglers Nov. 5 and is here to stay.<\/p>\n

The six-foot-four, 209-pound lefty added instant stability to a blue line that has now found the perfect partner for MacKenzie Weegar.<\/p>\n

Averaging well over 20 minutes a game, he is now one of the team\u2019s pillars moving forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While his offence is considered a bonus, with just 28 games under his belt he sits third among Flames defenceman, with three goals and eight points.<\/p>\n

Kuznetsov, 23, is a shining example of what the organization hopes to see more of as its young prospects continue to develop and get chances with the big club.<\/p>\n

While the opening 10 games of the schedule were murderous, losing eight of their first nine games put the Flames’ goal of making the playoffs in serious jeopardy.<\/p>\n

Some would suggest Parekh was the biggest disappointment, but those in the know were aware the undersized defenceman would be in tough to make the jump as a 19-year-old who would undoubtedly have started in the AHL had the CBA allowed it.<\/p>\n

Biggest question for the second half<\/p>\n

How deep does the sell-off go? <\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to start selling over the next month, preferably before the Olympic break, but to what extent does Conroy cash in on his most desirable veterans?<\/p>\n

Andersson, Kadri and Coleman are the big three who could be in play, with the latter two providing endless debate as they both have term on their contracts beyond this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CALGARY \u2014 The first half of the season has been a colossal failure for the Calgary Flames. Instead…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":392480,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-392479","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/392480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}