Stong finish gives hope for Flames in Year 2
A pair of weekend comeback victories in San Antonio and a four-game unbeaten streak to end the season only should serve to remind the Quad-City Flames of what a near-miss their inaugural season was.
It won’t mean much, though, in rekindling the Flames next fall.
“I think our team played pretty well,” said forward David Van der Gulik, whose two third-period goals spearheaded the first of two third-frame comebacks for the Flames in Texas. “We didn’t have anything to lose. We were relaxed and had fun.
“As far as building on it, (next season) is a long ways off. But it’s nice to leave on two solid wins.”
If the Flames had started the regular season as well as they ended it, they probably would be preparing for a playoff match right now.
They finished eight points behind the final Western Conference playoff position, and no one would argue that a 2-7-2 start and a home record of 13-18-3-4 were the central reasons for a fall from first in the West Division last year in Omaha to sixth in the Calgary farm club’s first Q-C campaign.
Flames coach Ryan McGill said youth was a culprit in both cases, but he said a 23-14-0-3 road record is proof this team had the makings of a contending club.
“I think the home record is fixable with the right group,” he said.
McGill can’t begin to anticipate what that group will look like when players report for the second Q-C Flames training camp in mid-September.
Free agency awaits for 12 players who saw action here this year. And even after the Calgary Flames get all their prospects under contract starting July 1, one or several could end up making the NHL team out of Calgary training camp.
That is the full intention of Van der Gulik, a second-year forward who is a restricted free agent.
“I am not going to think about not making it,” he said. “I am going to focus all summer, train as hard as I have ever trained, get a contract and try to make the team. If I’m back here, I’ll take it when it happens.”
In theory at least, Van der Gulik and Kris Chucko, second-year forwards who finished the season strong, could join veterans Carsen Germyn, Warren Peters and Brandon Prust in leading a Q-C offense that averaged just 2.5 goals a game this year.
Since all but two of the free agents are restricted, Calgary general manager Darryl Sutter will basically decide who’s back and who is not.
In all probability, though, the Flames will have to replace top scorers Grant Stevenson, a restricted free agent who confirmed he is considering playing overseas next season, and Krys Kolanos, who played this year under a one-year AHL-only deal and said he would weigh his options this summer, too.
“It is going to be totally up to Darryl and the Calgary organization who is re-signed,” McGill said. “But certainly there (were) two guys who had an impact on us.”
Sutter made it clear throughout the year that Calgary won’t look to sign older players with NHL experience to play here at the expense of young draft picks. But, like Stevenson and Kolanos this year, a handful of experienced players will be signed to show the young kids the way. Unlike this year, that experience could be seen on the defensive corps next season, where the Flames have youth in abundance.
“We are in the business of developing hockey players, but we have got to make sure to surround these young guys with good veterans and good veteran leadership,” McGill said. “And if we wind up signing a veteran defenseman or two, then it becomes a competition (as to) who makes the team.”
A total of nine rookies saw at least some action with the team this year and will have a base of experience to build upon.
“For the rookies, next year is going to be a big year, a stepping stone,” said first-year goalie Matt Keetley. “We didn’t really know what to expect coming in and now we really know.”
Whether he is here or not, Kolanos can see the makings of a solid 2008-2009 Flames team.
“To just miss the playoffs, almost taste getting there, that’s a big thing,” he said. “They are going to be able to draw from this year and dig just that much deeper.
“I think the way this organization runs, it’s tough love,” he said. “They know what to expect now and hopefully they prepare the right way this summer.”
Craig DeVrieze can be contacted at (563) 333-2610 or cdevrieze@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com