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Flames players blocking out trade noise with the playoffs in sight

Colton Pankiw
Colton Pankiw
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Feb 22 2024, 12:12 am
Flames players blocking out trade noise with the playoffs in sight
Sergei Belski/USA TODAY Sports

Despite all the trade noise surrounding the Calgary Flames, they are still well within striking distance for a playoff position.

Thanks to a big 6-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday afternoon, the Flames are back within three points of a wild-card position. Remaining in the race, however, could soon become much more difficult.

The Flames are expected to trade Chris Tanev and Noah Hanifin ahead of the March 8 deadline. Both players are huge pieces on their back end, as they log big minutes and provide plenty of leadership to the young group. While their teammates are well aware of all the speculation, they’re focusing on their day-to-day task of trying to win hockey games.

“We’re trying to stay in the moment,” defenceman Rasmus Andersson said after today’s practice. “It’s obviously not easy with the deadline approaching. There’s probably going to be a lot of noise, but you can only control what you can control.”

While not looking at the big picture is easier said than done, the 27-year-old believes he has done a better job focusing on the present as he has progressed in his NHL career.

“The older you get, [you realize] when you’re at home, you’re home, and when you’re at the rink, you’re at the rink. Your mind is always going in some way, but you’ve always got to try and stay in the moment, stay in the present, and take it game by game.”

Though the Flames still have 26 games remaining on their schedule, this tends to become the time of the year when media and fans begin to scoreboard-watch in order to dictate the standings. While preaching about avoiding outside noise from affecting on-ice performance, head coach Ryan Huska admitted that it can be challenging for players to avoid peeking around the league.

“There’s a lot of hockey nerds in our room. They live and breathe it,” Huska admitted. “They’re watching games like [we] would. They look at stats the next day. They love the game.

“At the end of the day, it really just comes down to us. We can’t control what other teams are going to do, so it’s just making sure we’re at our best.”

One player in particular who fits into the “hockey nerd” category, as described by Huska, is Andrew Mangiapane. He admitted that he is well in tune with how other teams in the league are doing, simply because of how much he enjoys hockey.

“I’m kind of a hockey guy, so I’ve been watching the scoreboard since game one,” a laughing Mangiapane said. “I’ve been watching, but I think it’s kind of early to really cheer for other teams.”

That said, Mangiapane, like his teammates and coaching staff, is doing his best to ignore all the other noise surrounding the Flames.

“We’ve really just got to worry about ourselves. That’s all you can control at the end of the day. That’s our attitude in here, and that’s our mindset.”

The Flames’ next game won’t be an easy one, as they are set to take on the NHL’s fourth-placed Boston Bruins. Despite the difficult test, the Flames know they are capable of beating the Bruins when at their best, as they defeated them 4-1 in their first game out of the All-Star break on February 6.

With the number of teams in the hunt for a wild-card position in the Western Conference, the Flames’ playoff chances aren’t looking great. MoneyPuck has the team at a 13.4% chance to get into the playoffs. While those odds may be slim, this group seems determined to fight until the end regardless of what transpires by the trade deadline. If you’re a fan, it’s hard not to love their mentality.

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