Things seem to be reaching a critical point in Calgary.
After Monday's embarrassing 8-2 loss to the L.A. Kings, the Flames' playoff chances are now virtually hopeless. Mathematically, they still have a chance - fine - but the odds are stacked against them.
A defeat like Monday's is enough to set the dominos flying every which way, but we cannot ignore the greater issues facing the Flames this season. Coaching, goaltending and scoring have all proven inferior by club standards, but Occam's razor suggests bad luck has absolutely crippled this hockey team.
One of Calgary's biggest offseason signings -
Nazem Kadri - has become vocally critical of the Flames' coaching. Darryl Sutter's style is notoriously hard on players, and the general division between new-school and old is visually apparent from even the untrained eye.
On Monday's edition of
32 Thoughts: the Podcast, Elliotte Friedman said: "
Nazem Kadri has been very vocal about what he's seen in Calgary this season and why they aren't firing on all cylinders.
He's been very blunt about the communication between players and the coach.
Frustration boiled over on Saturday night."
Kadri contrasts Sutter and his staff's coaching methods to that of Jared Bednar's in Colorado and says the two are night-and-day. Subsequently, Kadri was benched in the 3rd period of Saturday's 6-5 OT loss to the Dallas Stars.
Clearly, there is division afoot between players and coach. The question, then, becomes: which side does the club take?
My money is on the players.
