Even though the Calgary Flames didn’t make the Stanley Cup playoffs, the team has been mentioned consistently due to the presence of the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final. Sam Bennett, Ryan Lomberg, and, most notably, Matthew Tkachuk are all playing a part in the team’s first trip to the Final since 1996. Although they’ve all contributed in different ways, it’s Tkachuk that has taken the spotlight, even making an appearance on NBA on TNT before Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics alongside the usual crew of basketball legends Shaquille O’Ne ..read more

With Craig Conroy now installed as general manager, the Calgary Flames are onto their next big to-do list item: replacing outgoing head coach Darryl Sutter. Per a report from The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, former New York Rangers bench boss Gerald Gallant will be part of the interview process. Predators will make the Brunette hire, 1st reported by @KevinWeekes below, official later today. The Preds also interviewed Spencer Carbery. Elsewhere: _ The Flames reached out to Gerard Gallant to gauge his interest in potentially coaching in Calgary. Answer was yes. So Gallant… https://t.co/NM6hGQ64av ..read more

Connor Zary was a productive and dynamic player for the Calgary Wranglers in the 2022-23 season. He bounced around the lineup and alternated his position at times, but still found ways to climb his way to second overall in team scoring. He was there through every game and had much better luck on the injury front. He really showed signs of maturing as a player this year and the way his trajectory is going, he’s going to be even better next season.  By the numbers Regular season When Jakob Pelletier was a Wranglers regular in the first half of the season, Zary spent his time chasing him in ..read more

When the initial arena deal between the City of Calgary and Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation came together in 2019, part of the justification for the inclusion of public funds was that it’s generally been required for these types of facilities to get built in smaller markets. In an attempt to wrap our heads around the role of public funds in building arenas, we’ve corralled some deal info regarding NHL markets that are about as small as Calgary’s 1.5 million person metro area. The logic So here’s the idea behind “smaller markets need public money”: the amount of potential users of ..read more

A trio of Calgary Flames are leaving Europe with some shiny hardware. Team Canada – featuring Calgary Flames players MacKenzie Weegar, Milan Lucic and Tyler Toffoli – captured the gold medal at the 2023 IIHF men’s World Championships on Sunday via a 5-2 victory over Germany. In the gold medal game, Weegar had an assist and was even in 25:11. Lucic was even in 14:42. Toffoli had a goal and was even in 12:19. Overall, Weegar captured three honours at the tournament. He was named one of Canada’s top three players for the tournament, was voted to the tournament all-star team, and was named the tou ..read more

Martin Pospisil was one of the longest absent players from the Calgary Wranglers lineup in the 2022-23 season. He was meant to be a regular forward for the team that was projected to spend a lengthy amount of time on the top two lines. Instead, he only played in 20 games with the team and missed the majority of the season due to injury. Not an unusual story for Pospisil who also missed a large chunk of games for the Stockton Heat in 2021-22.  By the numbers Regular season Pospisil played his fourth season with the Flames’ AHL affiliate this year and was averaging about half a point a game ..read more

The month of May is winding down rapidly, and we’re almost into what’s going to be a very, very busy, eventful month of June. We’ll likely see a new Calgary Flames head coach, as well as clarity on the salary cap and the future of the seven impending 2024 free agents. As we wind down May, onto the mailbag! How impressive was Coronato at the World Championships? Did it give you more confidence that he is NHL-ready? — m ? (@miletwt) May 28, 2023 Of all the Flames’ high-end prospects, Matt Coronato was the one that there were the most questions about heading into the 2023-24 season. He played o ..read more

Following a pretty successful first season for the Calgary Wranglers, the club is experiencing its first departure. Blueliner Josh Brook, who spent the 2022-23 season with the Wranglers on an American Hockey League contract, has signed for the 2023-24 season with Rauman Lukko of Finland’s Liiga. The 23-year-old Brook spent much of the 2022-23 season for the Wranglers as veteran depth. He suited up for 13 games in the regular season and posted six points, and then appeared twice during the Calder Cup playoffs. The challenge for Brook was that he spent the season behind the likes of guys pushing ..read more

Elias Lindholm is set to become a free agent in the summer of 2024. He is eligible to sign a long term extension with the Calgary Flames starting on July 1, 2023. The Flames are most likely going to take a run at signing Lindholm. New general manager Craig Conroy said as much in his introductory press conference last Tuesday. But if Lindholm tells the Flames he is not going to sign with them long term, similar to what Matthew Tkachuk did last summer, the Flames will have to explore a trade. That begs the question, who would be a great fit for the Flames in a trade for their star center? Here a ..read more

The first step of reshaping the Calgary Flames is underway. Craig Conroy has been hired as the new general manager after Brad Treliving and the Flames mutually decided to part ways. The 51-year-old has a vision for the team that involves more speed, skill, and youth than players who are less effective but have more “grit,” physicality, or veteran leadership. Of course, those two things won’t go unchecked when acquiring players to try and help the team, but being able to harness creativity in tandem with speed, skill, and tenacity in the dirty areas is going to be the key to success for the fut ..read more