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The wishes in Calgary for the coming season

Every day between December 2nd and January 1st, NHL.com publishes a wish list for one of the 31 NHL teams for the upcoming season. What is necessary for the upcoming season to be as successful as possible for the respective club?

Today the wishes of the Calgary Flames.

The Calgary Flames are among the up and coming teams of the past few years. The losing streak, when the Canadians missed the Stanley Cup playoffs five times in a row between 2010 and 2014, was overcome. In three of the past four seasons, the Flames were represented in the postseason. In the knockout games, however, the team mostly lost luck.

The Flames landed in 8th place in the Western Conference last season, prevailed against the Winnipeg Jets in the qualifying round, but were then defeated 2: 4 against the eventual finalists Dallas Stars. The two playoff appearances before, in which Calgary could only win a single game, were even weaker. In 2019 there was a 1: 4 against the Colorado Avalanche, in 2017 a 0: 4 against the Anaheim Ducks.

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If the Flames want to work not only in the regular season, but also in the postseason, some wishes would have to be fulfilled.

Trainer Ward also works as a permanent solution

In November 2019, Geoff Ward was surprisingly promoted to head coach after Bill Peters resigned. The 58-year-old suddenly had sole responsibility, but was able to build on a team and a tactical structure that Peters had left behind. Now the situation is different. Ward goes into the season as head coach, had a decisive influence on the squad planning and is also responsible for the important pre-season preparations.

General Manager Brad Treliving is convinced that the Canadian will master the task: “He worked for this opportunity for a very long time and has gained a lot of experience as a coach on various levels.”

Markstrom is the hoped-for secure support

goalkeeper Jacob Markstrom came from the Vancouver Canucks and takes on the role of the migrated goalkeeper Cam Talbot. The 30-year-old newcomer was considered a candidate for the Vezina Trophy in 2020 until he sustained a knee injury shortly before the league break. Cured again, he shone in the playoffs with a save rate of 91.9 percent.

Video: VAN @ STL, Sp5: Markstrom robbed de la Rose

In an interview with the specialist ice hockey news magazine, Ward described Markstrom as a “royal commitment”: “Jacob is, as he has shown this year, in excellent shape and he will give us a lot of pleasure. Together with David Rittich we will have a very strong goalie duo. “

The defense finds itself quickly and scores more goals

The defense had to cope with some notable departures in the offseason. Defenders TJ Brodie (Toronto Maple Leafs), Erik Gustafsson (Philadelphia Flyers) as well Derek Forbort (Winnipeg Jets) joined other teams. Ward is particularly challenged here and has to put together the right defensive duos.

Newcomer Christopher Tanev, most recently Vancouver Canucks, should play an important role in this. Also the young Finnish defender Juuso Valimaki, who missed the last season completely due to a cruciate ligament rupture and had previously played 26 NHL games, is considered a beacon of hope.

Also important: The Flames defenders should score more goals than the 26 from the previous season.

The new ones reinforce the right side and the outnumbered game

Ward hopes the signings will fix some of the last season’s weaknesses. “We also had to do something for our right side,” he told Ice Hockey News. “We were understaffed with right-handed shooters, both in defense and in the attack.” Therefore, in addition to Tanev, the winger also became Josh Leivo Committed.

About the departure of the German Tobias Rieder Joakim Nordström joined the team to compensate, which was particularly important in the underpowered game.

Video: DAL @ CGY, Sp4: Rieder scores SHG in the third third

Dube becomes the next self-drafted superstar

The Flames have proven that they can develop young players. Sean Monahan, Sam Bennett, Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk are prominent examples of this. Dillon Dube could be the next player to be drafted by Calgary (2016, 2nd round, position 56) and also develop into a superstar there.

The 22-year-old center was already a bright spot in the playoffs with four goals and an assist. This should give him confidence for the coming season.

Offensive knüpft an die Playoffs an

The Flames have with Monahan, Bennett, Gaudreau, Tkachuk or Elias Lindholm enough players on the offensive who can decide games with their individual quality. In the regular season, the attack still fell short of expectations. With an average of 2.91 goals per game, the Flames only finished 20th in the NHL. In the playoffs it went much better with an average of 3.3 goals.

It is important to build on that.

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