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In two years since Johnny Gaudreau's overtime magic, lots has changed for Flames and Stars
It was one of the biggest goals in Calgary Flames history and, arguably, the high water-mark of the past 20 years for the club. On May 15, 2022, Johnny Gaudreau fired a puck past Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger in overtime to send the Flames to the second round of the playoffs after a gruelling seven-game series. A lot has changed in the two years since that magical night at the Saddledome. Today, the Stars are one of the favourites for the Stanley Cup, while the Flames missed the playoffs for the second straight year this season and have seen a massive amount of roster turnover in the time since Gaudreau sent Calgary hockey fans into a state of ecstasy. And now, it’s the team the Flames eliminated that night whose path they’re trying to follow as they try to build towards contention. At his end-of-season media availability, Flames GM Craig Conroy talked openly about the “Dallas model” and how the Stars added stars through the draft while staying competitive. Flames scouts have a big task on their hands as they try to replicate an amazing Stars draft strategy that saw defenceman Miro Heiskanen, Oettinger and forward Jason Robertson all added in one swoop in 2017. But it’s remarkable to look back and actually see how much change the Flames have undergone in the two years since Gaudreau’s overtime wizardry. For the Stars, the loss was a setback. For the Flames, the win marked the end of an era in a lot of ways. It’s best not to linger too long on the Battle of Alberta that came in the second round of 2022, but the summer that followed saw Gaudreau leave in free agency and fellow star forward Matthew Tkachuk traded to the Florida Panthers. That was just the beginning. They’re far from the only guys who are gone. In fact, look back at the Flames’ roster from that night and you’ll see that only four of the 12 forwards who played in Game 7 are still with the team — Blake Coleman, Mikael Backlund, Andrew Mangiapane and Dillon Dube. On the blue-line, only Rasmus Andersson and Oliver Kylington remain. Jacob Markstrom was between the pipes against the Stars, but there are a lot of people expecting to see him traded this summer. The head coach that night was Darryl Sutter. He’s gone, replaced by Ryan Huska. The Flames’ GM was Brad Treliving. He’s in Toronto trying to work through the mess of a Maple Leafs roster. There’s change at the top of the Flames’ corporate structure, too, with this week’s announcement that John Bean is stepping down from his role as president/CEO of Calgary Sports and Entertainment Company, with Robert Hayes taking over those positions and Lorenzo DeCicco becoming the chief operating officer. That’s a lot of change in two years, to put it as plainly as possible. The Stars, meanwhile, continued on their upward trajectory and Flames fans may find themselves cheering for the team Gaudreau eliminated in 2022. If the Stars make the Stanley Cup final, the Flames get a third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft as one of the conditions of the trade that sent Chris Tanev to Dallas in March. Change is not necessarily a bad thing, of course. Since taking over as GM, Conroy has taken the required steps to make sure the Flames didn’t lose soon-to-be veteran free agents for nothing. The team sacrificed some short-term pain, but they’re younger, have a treasure trove of draft picks over the next couple years, some salary cap flexibility and, speaking big picture, there’s a new arena on the way, too. It’s not all doom and gloom, by any measure. The Stars weren’t built in a day. They drafted well, kept veterans around and made shrewd acquisitions to improve — Tanev included. Now, they’re reaping the rewards and could be on their way to hoisting the Stanley Cup in a month or two. Two years ago, it felt like the Flames were in the same position. Now, though, they look at the team they eliminated in 2022 and see a path they hope to follow. daustin@postmedia.com www.twitter.com/DannyAustin_9
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GOALIE REPORT: Pickard to the rescue to knot series 2-2 with Canucks
Following each game in the second round between the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks, we’ll be providing a quick synopsis of the clubs’ goaltending performances. A look at how each netminder fared in the Oilers’ 3-2 win in Game 4 to tie the series 2-2: Calvin Pickard, Oilers 19/21 saves, .905 save percentage He started out looking good. Real good. And by the end, he managed to hold the fort just enough for the Edmonton Oilers to squeak out their first regulation win over the Vancouver Canucks in eight games. Not only was it Pickard’s first NHL playoff start in his 10-year pro career, but it was just his second win of the year against a team that qualified for the post-season. Before he got the last 16 minutes of relief work in Game 3, it had to be killing Pickard to watch the starter ahead of him, Stuart Skinner, cough up a .793 average on the way to falling behind 2-1 in the Western Conference second-round series. Not that Pickard is that kind of teammate. But he is human, and with playoff chances so few and far between to come by in his career — make that non-existent — he had to be wondering if his time would finally come. Kudos to Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch for making the decision to swap netminders before their backs were completely against the wall in the series. It was a bold move by the rookie head coach, and displayed at the very least a willingness to try something different to spark his team forward. While Knoblauch said we would be seeing Skinner again in this series, be it Game 6 or 7, the Oilers would be foolish to interrupt the winning momentum discovered with Pickard when they face the Canucks at Rogers Arena on Thursday (8 p.m., Sportsnet, CBC). Arturs Silovs, Canucks 27/30 saves, .900 save percentage While the Oilers looked to their backup, the Canucks once again called on their third-stringer to play above his stance on the depth chart and deliver yet another solid performance. For the playoffs, the 23-year-old is 4-3 with a 2.71 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage — more than half of which came against the team with players currently occupying the top three spots on the playoff scoring lead. Not bad for fresh off the farm. And not the reason the Canucks lost Game 4. But he’s going to need a little more run support if Vancouver wants to reach the next round. E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
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Filling a Mitch Marner-size hole in regular season would be difficult for Maple Leafs
Let’s assume there’s a Maple Leafs world in 2024-25 that doesn’t include Mitch Marner. First, though, let’s be clear. If there does come a time when the Leafs and Marner go their separate ways, we’re not going to know for a while yet. The Leafs made it apparent on Friday that after years of playoff frustration under president Brendan Shanahan — who, naturally, remains in his position — they’ve finally come to the realization that the core as it stands isn’t going to win in the playoffs. Just don’t expect there to be a straight line between what the front office may have planned during the off-season and what actually happens. If it’s Marner that general manager Brad Treliving intends to move, Marner and his agent, Darren Ferris, will have that knowledge long before July 1, when the sides can negotiate on a contract extension. Any talks on July 1 and beyond won’t be necessary if Marner decides to waive his no-move clause. Somewhere, too, we should leave room for the idea that maybe, just maybe, Marner remains a Leaf next season and he can take another run at what would be his first 100-point season in the National Hockey League. There would exist the possibility, even small, that the Leafs wouldn’t find a trade to their liking, even though potential suitors will be lined up around the block at Scotiabank Arena. When the Leafs had their exit meetings last week, Marner said he wants to stay with Toronto for the longterm. Holding firm on his no-move clause is a distinct possibility. Back to the idea that Marner has played his last game in Leafs sweater, or will at some point in the next year. With 85 points in 69 games this past season, Marner was on pace for 101 points had he played in all 82 games. He hit 99 points in 2022-23, 97 the previous season and had 94 in 2018-19. He’s going to record 100 points, whether it’s with the Leafs or another team. There’s the rub if Marner is deleted from the roster. If you think the Leafs should be getting a premier defenceman in return in any trade involving Marner — and that’s what Treliving should demand because there’s not going to be a ton available in free agency — all of those points that Marner amasses in the regular season, those same points that have helped the Leafs attain lofty status in the Atlantic Division, will be gone. There’s no one on the Leafs roster now or in the pipeline who will replace those points, and expecting that collectively from several players would be a tall ask. Never mind that if Marner eventually is no longer part of the Leafs picture, the team would be in some trouble at forward if Auston Matthews or William Nylander was injured for any length of time. A potential Marner subtraction from the roster has to have been part of the interview process that Treliving is believed to have had with, at least, Craig Berube and Todd McLellan for the vacant coaching position. Regarding Matthews, of his franchise-record 69 goals in 2023-24, Marner had the primary assist on 25 and assisted on eight others. Full respect to the chemistry that Max Domi had with Matthews when the two were on the same line as Marner recovered from an ankle injury suffered on March 7. But Domi is no Marner. Marner’s failure to make a difference in the playoffs, most recently his paltry three points in seven games against the Boston Bruins, helped reinforce the opinion that changes must be made to the core. Beyond Matthews, Nylander, Marner and captain John Tavares, the group of forwards that the Leafs have under contract for next season includes Matthew Knies, David Kampf, Calle Jarnkrok, Ryan Reaves, Pontus Holmberg and Bobby McMann. Restricted free agents include Nick Robertson, Connor Dewar and Noah Gregor. Outside of Knies, McMann and Robertson, it’s not a pool of players overflowing with the potential for increased offensive production in the event that Marner is traded. If you’re counting on, say, Easton Cowan and Nikita Grebenkin to make the roster and tip the offensive scales, we would humbly suggest you’re probably seeking too much. If Marner is no longer part of the picture, Treliving will need to accomplish more than re-signing Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi, if either happens, to try to ensure more offence comes from the forwards. Said out loud, “changing the core” sounds pretty straightforward. Putting that into motion is not going to be easy, and if it happens with a Marner trade, there’s going to a regular-season hole up front that will be next to impossible to fill. We’re not saying changes are not required for the Leafs to make headway, once and for all, in the playoffs. There should be the reminder, though, that the regular-season bumps on the way to the post-season would bigger without Marner. tkoshan@postmedia.com X: @koshtorontosun Berube? Keefe? Arniel? Options aplenty as Jets search for next bench boss SIMMONS: Another shining toy for the remarkable, still young, Larry Tanenbaum
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