Surprising Playoff Run Just the Start of Calgary Flames Becoming a Force in West

May 9th, 2015 by Adrian Dater Leave a reply »

They were called a fluky regular-season team by some critics, and they entered Sunday down three games to one in the Western Conference semifinal to the Anaheim Ducks. So why is everybody in Calgary so happy about the current state of the Flames?

The answer is obvious: There is a lot to look forward to.

Calgary isn't the youngest team in the NHL; 12 teams, in fact, are younger than the Flames' average age of 28.25. Calgary won 10 games when trailing after two periods and tied for first in overtime wins with nine. Critics scoffed that the Flames were this season's Colorado Avalanche of last year, a team that got a lot of late miracles to win a division title but missed the playoffs the following year. The same thing might happen to the Flames, they said.

Except, unlike the Avs of 2013-14, the Flames won a first-round playoff series. Plus, they did it without their best player, defenseman Mark Giordano, who has been out a couple of months with a torn biceps injury. Calgary went 12-6-3 in the 21 regular-season games Giordano missed down the stretch to earn eighth place in the rugged West. 

Giordano wasn't sur ...

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