Following the Calgary Flames‘ 7-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday, an interview featuring Devin Cooley was released on Sportsnet’s After Hours. Scott Oake and Eric Francis asked the recently extended Flames netminder about many things, and as Cooley has done all season, his answers were gold. If I were to try to cover all the incredibly insightful responses he gave, we’d be here for hours. It’s worth doing, just not all at once.
But amid a streak in which the Flames have won five of six games, including four in extra time, the first thing worth highlighting is Cooley’s comments on the team’s culture.
After dancing around the idea of a rebuild all season, the Flames finally committed to it at the NHL trade deadline, dealing away Mackenzie Weegar, who has five years remaining on his contract, and Nazem Kadri, with three years left on his deal.
Justifiably, after such a drastic shift in philosophy, and missing a playoff spot via a tiebreaker a season ago, fans were wondering how the locker room felt about losing three key leaders, when you include Rasmus Andersson, who was traded earlier in the season.
In response to a fan submission on After Hours, Cooley said, “It’s amazing. The guys are so much fun. Everyone is having a blast in there.” He continued, “It’s just such a fun group to be around; there’s no negativity ever. Guys are never super emotional about things; everyone has each other’s back.”
Then, about his own experience, he said, “I don’t feel stressed at all coming to the rink. I feel like I can just be myself, ” He closed things off by saying, “Everyone’s a good friend, everyone’s so close, and that translates onto the ice a lot of the time, and for guys like me, first time in the league, and the younger guys on the team, they feed of that culture, it makes coming to the rink fun, it makes playing hockey fun.”
Flames’ Hot Streak Fuelled By Team’s Culture
According to the analytics from the last six games, the Flames shouldn’t have won five of them. They were outshot and lost the expected goal battle in five of those six. This is not a sustainable way to win; the analytics do hold weight. However, when you battle as hard as the Flames have and commit to making smart plays, it’s a lot easier to defy the analytics, especially when you’re getting great goaltending from both goalies.
Over this stretch, the Flames have done a much better job of battling early in games, scoring the first goal or at least staying within striking distance, not falling behind by more than a goal in six straight games. In the first six games after the deadline, the Flames had three losses by three or more goals, along with a one-goal loss to the New York Islanders, in which they nearly came back after falling behind by three.
This is the Flames’ blueprint. They are clearly not talented enough yet to compete; that’s the point of the rebuild over the next couple of seasons. But this group has players on the verge of breaking out and several more on the verge of cracking the NHL. Along with their stockpile of draft picks, help is coming quickly. If the Flames can maintain this high-effort, physical style they’ve played, it will make them incredibly tough to play against once they have more talent than the mediocre rosters of past seasons.
Flames’ Winning Won’t Last; But Their Play Can
Despite how well the Flames have played recently, they’re inevitably going to come back down to earth with a 60.61% goal share compared to a 47.12% expected goal percentage over the last six games (via Natural Stat Trick).
The bounces will start going the other way at some point, and these one-goal overtime wins will turn into losses, and that is okay; it’s something a portion of the fan base is probably rooting for to improve the team’s odds at landing one of the top picks in this year’s seemingly loaded draft class.
All you can ask from a team like this is that they give it their all every time they take the ice. They may not be as talented as other teams, but the group has a bunch of players who can keep games competitive. That’s what the team should want from their young, talented players like Zayne Parekh, Matvei Gridin, and the numerous others who have and will be introduced into the lineup over the coming seasons.
Maintaining the high-effort, physical Flames style that has kept many underwhelming teams semi-competitive in recent years will be a huge part of speeding up this rebuild. It seems like they are off to a great start with that, since waiving the flag at the deadline, playing some great hockey, and getting such positive comments about the commitment in the room from a player known for his honesty.
Related: Flames Week Ahead: Schedule & Storylines – Playing Spoiler, Maatta’s Resurgence and More
At the start of the season, it was hard to see what direction the Flames were headed, and while the product on the ice hasn’t been the best, fans at least know the direction the organization is heading. You can see the players are committed to it and still battling for the logo. It’s fun to watch and something we can rally around.
